Evans syndrome, also known as antiphospholipid syndrome, is a rare autoimmune disease, in which the body produces antibodies that destroy blood.
Some patients with this disease may have only destroyed white blood cells or red blood cells alone, but the entire blood structure can be damaged in cases of Evans syndrome.
- The sooner the correct diagnosis of this syndrome is made.
- The easier it will be to control the symptoms and thus the patient will have a better quality of life.
The factor that promotes this syndrome is still unknown, and both the symptoms and progression of this rare disease are very different from case to case, depending on the part of the blood that is attacked by the antibodies.
When red blood cells are damaged, decreasing their blood levels, the patient develops the typical symptoms of anemia. In cases where platelets need to be destroyed, the patient is more susceptible to bruising and bleeding than in cases of head trauma. They cause fatal brain hemorrhage and when the white part of the blood is affected, the patient is more susceptible to infections with greater difficulty. Recovery.
It is common for patients with Evans syndrome to have other autoimmune diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, for example.
The course of the disease is unexpected and in many cases episodes of great destruction of blood cells are followed by long periods of remission, while some more severe cases progress continuously without periods of improvement.
Treatment aims to stop the production of antibodies that destroy blood. Treatment doesn’t cure the disease, but it helps reduce your symptoms, such as anemia or thrombosis.
Steroid use is recommended because they inhibit the immune system and decrease antibody production, disrupting or decreasing the degree of destruction of blood cells.
Another option is immunoglobulin injection to destroy excess antibodies produced by the body or chemotherapy, which stabilizes the patient. In the most severe cases, spleen removal is a form of treatment, as is blood transfusion.