Aspiration and biopsy of the bone marrow is easily carried out in the examining room or hospital bed by inserting a sturdy needle into the large pelvic bone just beneath the belt line on either side of the spine. In aplastic anemia, the bone marrow biopsy shows a great reduction in the number of cells in the bone marrow, with a normal appearance of the few remaining cells. The diagnosis of aplastic anemia is usually made or confirmed by a hematologist- a specialist in blood disorders. Initial Treatment Aplastic anemia is a medical emergency. Patients with severe aplastic anemia require immediate hospital treatment.
Anemia is corrected by red cell transfusions.
Since anemia in itself is not an emergency, red cell transfusions are usually given only when symptoms are not relieved by restriction of activity. By contrast, bleeding due to low platelets is an acute medical emergency which should be treated with platelet transfusions to prevent fatal hemorrhage. You may be asked to provide platelet donors. Do not ask close family members to donate platelets until after a bone marrow transplant has been done or ruled out since this may interfere with the effectiveness of a bone marrow transplant if a family member donor is found. Platelets are collected from donors through a process called hemapheresis.