Aplastic anaemia: a review of cases at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Thirty male and 27 female patients were treated at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, over a 20 year period (January, 1971 to December, 1990) for aplastic anaemia. Age range was three months to 52 years with a median of 19 years. In 26 patients the aplasia could not be linked with a particular cause. Most patients in this category were students in secondary and tertiary institutions, office workers and casual labourers. Nineteen patients were automobile and factory workers who are exposed to lead while two were dealers in petroleum products. In two patients aplasia was linked to chloramphenicol ingestion while in three, the aplasia linked to the use of hair dye. Another three linked the aplasia to a past history of viral hepatitis. One patient had congenital aplasia of the marrow and one was a radiographer. Treatment included oxymethalone 100 mg given three times daily (tds) or intramuscular (i.m.) Durabolin 500 mg weekly. When these drugs were unavailable prednisolone 60 mg daily was administered. No patient had the benefit of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) or the superior drugs, e.g. anti-thymocyte globulin and cyclosporin A. This might have contributed to the poor prognosis as revealed by the survival pattern in which 24 patients died within six months of diagnosis while 19 survived 12 months. Seven patients died within 18 months and four others died within three years. Three patients were alive five years after presentation. Death generally resulted from complications of the aplastic anaemia with gastro-intestinal bleeding, cerebro-vascular accidents and overwhelming infections.