Question

What causes severe congenital aplastic anemia?

Answer

  1. Medications are the most common cause of aplastic anemia.
  2. The association between chemical substances such as benzene and its derivatives and aplastic anemia has been confirmed by many studies. After entering the human body, benzene attaches to fatty tissues, especially in cases of chronic benzene poisoning, where benzene mainly accumulates in the bone marrow. Its toxic metabolites inhibit the DNA and RNA synthesis of hematopoietic stem cells and damage chromosomes.
  3. In patients with viral hepatitis, the incidence of severe congenital aplastic anemia is approximately 0.05% to 0.9%, and among patients with severe congenital aplastic anemia, the proportion caused by the hepatitis C virus is about 3.2% to 23.9%.