Treatment for pancytopenia

Treatment for pancytopenia should be guided by a hematologist, but it is usually started with blood transfusions to relieve symptoms, after which it is necessary to take medication for life or to have a bone marrow transplant to maintain the recommended levels of cells in the blood..

Normally, pancytopenia has no definite cause, being caused by the patient's own immune system that attacks blood cells. In these cases, the symptoms are milder and, therefore, the doctor may recommend:

Frequent blood transfusions, which are used to control symptoms in the early stages of treatment, especially in young patients; Immunosuppressive drugs, such as thymoglobulin, methylprednisolone or cyclophosphamide, to prevent the immune system from destroying blood cells; Bone marrow stimulating drugs, such as Epoetin alfa or Pegfilgrastim, to increase blood cell production, which may be reduced when the patient is undergoing radiation or chemotherapy, for example.

In some cases, these treatments can cure pancytopenia, restoring the levels of cells in the blood, however, in most cases, the patient must continue the treatment for life.

In the most severe cases, in which the levels of cells in the blood is very low, it may be necessary to have a bone marrow transplant to prevent the occurrence of hemorrhages and serious infections that can threaten the patient's life.

Signs of improvement of pancytopenia

The signs of improvement of pancytopenia can take a few months to appear and mainly include an increase in the levels of cells in the blood, as assessed by a blood test, as well as a reduction in bruising, bleeding and infections.

Signs of worsening pancytopenia

Signs of worsening pancytopenia appear when treatment is not done properly or the disease develops too fast, causing severe bleeding, frequent infections and seizures.