Aplastic Anemia Clinical Pathway — All Settings

History and Physical

There are no specific physical findings in AA. Most children present with signs and symptoms resulting from advanced pancytopenia.

Physical examination: Findings consistent with acquired aplastic anemia

System	Findings
General	Fatigue, exercise intolerance (anemia) Fever (neutropenia)
Skin	Easy bruising, petechiae (thrombocytopenia) Pallor (anemia)
Lymph	No LAD (pertinent negative)
HEENT	Epistaxis (thrombocytopenia)
GI	No hepatomegaly or splenomegaly (pertinent negative)
GU	Menorrhagia (thrombocytopenia)

History and physical: Findings that suggest an alternative diagnosis (such as inherited bone marrow failure syndrome)

Clinical History	Failure to thrive Malabsorption/maldigestion Developmental Delay
Family History	Family members with pancytopenia, especially if at early age Squamous cell carcinomas, esp head and neck Pulmonary fibrosis Family members with physical exam findings suspicious for inherited bone marrow failure syndrome
Physical Examination	Short stature Skin hyper- and hypopigmentation Nail abnormalities Limb (especially forearm) abnormalities Other skeletal abnormalities Renal and GU abnormalities Cardiac abnormalities Eye abnormalities Cleft lip/palate Hair or teeth abnormalities Developmental delay

If you have questions about any of the clinical pathways or about the process of creating a clinical pathway, please contact us.

©2024 by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, all rights reserved.
Use of this site is subject to the Terms of Use.

The clinical pathways are based upon publicly available medical evidence and/or a consensus of medical practitioners at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (“CHOP”) and are current at the time of publication. These clinical pathways are intended to be a guide for practitioners and may need to be adapted for each specific patient based on the practitioner’s professional judgment, consideration of any unique circumstances, the needs of each patient and their family, and/or the availability of various resources at the health care institution where the patient is located.

Accordingly, these clinical pathways are not intended to constitute medical advice or treatment, or to create a doctor-patient relationship between/among The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (“CHOP”), its physicians and the individual patients in question. CHOP does not represent or warrant that the clinical pathways are in every respect accurate or complete, or that one or more of them apply to a particular patient or medical condition. CHOP is not responsible for any errors or omissions in the clinical pathways, or for any outcomes a patient might experience where a clinician consulted one or more such pathways in connection with providing care for that patient.

Find a research study

Innovation and your child

Find research studies

Aplastic Anemia Clinical Pathway — All Settings

History and Physical

Physical examination: Findings consistent with acquired aplastic anemia

History and physical: Findings that suggest an alternative diagnosis (such as inherited bone marrow failure syndrome)

Find a research study

Innovation and your child

Find research studies

Aplastic Anemia — History and Physical — Clinical Pathway

Aplastic Anemia Clinical Pathway — All Settings

History and Physical

Physical examination: Findings consistent with acquired aplastic anemia

History and physical: Findings that suggest an alternative diagnosis (such as inherited bone marrow failure syndrome)