Case 6

A 74 yo woman was admitted to the hospital because of low blood counts. She has felt weak and tired for 3 weeks, and more recently noticed palpitations and lightheadedness. She was hospitalized following a brief syncopal episode. Evaluation at a local hospital showed pancytopenia and so she was transferred here.

Past Medical History

  • Hypothyroidism
  • Breast Cancer, T1 N0 M0, ER/PR positive, treated with lumpectomy in 2005. Given a short course of Arimidex, which was stopped because of a rash.
  • Diabetes type 2
  • Hypertension
  • History of excision of malignant scalp lesion of uncertain type in 2002

Medications

  • Levothyroxine
  • Metformin
  • Enalapril
  • Baby aspirin
  • Clarinex
  • Azithromycin

Allergies

  • Penicillin
  • Sulfa
  • Arimidex

Family Hx

  • Mother had hypothyroidism
  • Niece had breast CA at age 41

Social Hx: No tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs. Widowed, lives with son and daughter-in-law.

ROS: Unintentional 20# wt loss in past 6 mo. Good appetite. No fever/chills/sweats. No focal neurologic symptoms. No bleeding. No change in urine color.

Physical Examination: Alert and oriented, in NAD. Temp 99.7 F, pulse 100, resp 20, BP 126/58, Sa02 94% on 2L. Mild scleral icterus. No lymphadenopathy. Lungs clear. 2/6 systolic murmur radiating to carotids. Abdomen normal. Skin normal. Neuro exam normal except for diffuse hyporeflexia.

TEST MENU

CBC and differential
Retic count
Blood smear

INR
aPTT

Bone marrow biopsy
Cytogenetics

Iron/TIBC
Ferritin
B-12
Folate

ESR
Coombs test
Hemoglobin electrophoresis
Hemoglobin A2
Haptoglobin
Osmotic fragility
G6PD
EPO

Thrombin time
Platelet function screen
Platelet aggregometry
Bleeding time
Fibrinogen
D-dimer
Fibrin monomer
Factor II, X, V, VII, IX, VIII, XI, XII, XIII
Protein C
Protein S
Antithrombin
Activated protein C resistance
Factor V 
Leiden
Prothrombin gene mutation
Homocysteine
Inhibitor screen
ADAMTS-13

SPEP
Serum immunofixation
UPEP
Urine immunofixation
Quantitative immunoglobulins
Serum viscosity

Lytes, glucose, creat, BUN
AST, ALT
Alk phos, GGT, bili
Calcium
LDH
CRP
Uric acid
Albumin, total protein

Urinalysis
Urine hemosiderin

Chest xray
Skeletal survey
BodyCT
V/Q scan
Helical chest CT
Other radiology
Other pathology (biopsy)
Culture results
Serologic tests