Hematological abnormalities with RA
  • The long-term, chronic inflammatory stimulus leads to
    1. Non-stop iron storage (causes anemia of chronic disease)
    2. Splenomegaly
  • Splenomegaly leads to
    1. Shortened RBC life span (extravascular hemolysis)
    2. Thromoboytopenia (easy of bruising) and 
    3. Leukopenia, which leads to chronic bacterial infections