Haematology

Haematology

Haematology is a subspecialty of internal medicine that deals with conditions affecting the blood and bone marrow, including cancers of both the lymph glands and bone marrow, as well as benign and inherited conditions such as autoimmune disorders, bleeding conditions, and clotting disorders.


What is a Haematologist?

A clinical haematologist is a specialist who has expertise in diagnosing and treating blood disorders and blood cancers. Some common haematology conditions include:

  • Anaemia including Iron Deficiency and Haemolytic Anaemias

  • Bleeding disorders such as Haemophilia and von Willebrand's Disease

  • Blood clots referred to as Venous Thromboembolism (VTE)

    • Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

    • Pulmonary Embolism (PE)

  • Inherited and acquired clotting disorders or thrombophilias

    • Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS)

    • Protein C, Protein S, and Antithrombin Deficiency

  • Iron Overload (Haemochromatosis)

  • Lymphadenopathy and/or splenomegaly

  • Neutropenia and lymphopenia (low white cells)

  • Thrombocytopenia (low platelets)

  • Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) including Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (CMML)

  • Myeloproliferative disorders (MPN)

  • Other blood count and film abnormalities

 The main forms of blood cancer include:

  • Acute Leukaemias

  • Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL)

  • Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML)

  • Lymphoma including Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL)

  • Myeloma and related protein disorders such as Amyloid and Waldenstrom's

How are blood conditions diagnosed and treated?

Many blood disorders can be diagnosed and managed using clinical review and blood tests alone, but sometimes other testing including basic X-rays and more sophisticated imaging such as CT, MRI, and PET scans. Occasionally biopsies including bone marrow biopsies are needed for complete assessment. Additionally, some non-haematological disorders manifest changes in the blood early in their course that can help lead to diagnosis and enable referral for conditions to a different specialist before other issues arise.

In the modern era, a haematologist has access to specific treatments for many conditions which can be in the form of tablets, injections in the skin, and intravenous ("drip") therapy, including not just blood transfusions and iron infusions, but conventional chemotherapy, and increasingly targeted immunotherapy.  For many cases, there are several treatment options with an established standard of care, and clinical trials of new therapies are often accessible.