[Haematology] Introduction

Haematologists specialise in diseases of the blood. This includes the specialised blood cells and their proteins, particularly haemoglobin.
The spleen and bone marrow are closely associated with haematological diseases.
There is significant overlap with the fields of oncology and immunology.
This is a pathology discipline.  

 

Subspecialties

• Haemato-oncology
  

 

Etymology

Ancient Greek αἷμα (haîma) = blood
Ancient Greek λογία (logia) = study

 

Responsibilities

• Providing care to patients from their first blood test through to diagnosis and treatment.
• Blood transfusion.
• Marrow stem cell transplantation.
• Genetic testing.
• Guiding decisions for chemotherapy and other treatments.
• Giving advice to GPs and other hospital specialists.

 

Investigations

 

Relevant problems:

• Anaemia  
• Thrombocytopenia
• Leukopenia
• Pancytopenia
• Coagulopathies 
• Haemophilias
• Malignancies of the blood and bone marrow 
• Paraproteinaemia   

 

Haemic and lymphatic diseases

 

Relevant diseases:

• Leukaemia 
• Hodgkin lymphoma
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma 
• Myeloma  
• Sickle cell disease
• Thalassemia
• Essential thrombocythaemia (ET) 
• Polycythaemia vera (PV)
• Myelofibrosis (MF) 
• Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
• Porphyria  
• Plasmacytoma 
• Monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS)  
• Amyloidosis
• AL amyloidosis