Hematology in the Adolescent Female

Adolescent females experience a variety of blood disorders that are often unique to this patient population. As they go through puberty, they are uniquely poised to encounter various bleeding and thrombotic disorders once they attain menarche, start to have menstrual bleeding, and require hormonal therapy. This may in turn lead to other medical conditions, such as anemia and iron deficiency. Pregnancy encountered by some adolescents can pose hematologic challenges specifically in regards to bleeding and thrombotic disorders. In addition, adolescent females are at risk to develop immune mediated hematologic disorders, such as immune thrombocytopenia, auto-immune hemolytic anemia, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, as well as vitamin deficiencies due to pernicious anemia. Sickle cell disease, thalassemia and bone marrow failure disorders in the adolescent female poses unique challenges that need to be addressed with special care and attention. Knowledge about these various blood disorders in adolescent females is crucial for the treating physician in order to accurately diagnose and optimally manage these teenagers. Otherwise, it can affect their overall health, causing hematologic and gynecologic issues, poor quality of life, neurocognitive impairments, and poor psycho-social development, all of which can lead to various complications immediately and into adulthood.

This book provides a comprehensive, state-of-the art overview of blood disorders in female adolescents. The text presents new data about bleeding disorders that affect the female adolescent, including bleeding disorders, thromboembolism, thrombophilia, anemia, sickle cell disease and thalassemia, disorders od hemostasis and thrombosis in pregnancy, immune hematology and bone marrow failure disorders; reviews our current understanding of these disorders; outlines recent research findings; and spotlights multi-disciplinary approaches, evaluation and treatment modalities to combat