Diagnosing andmanaging agranulocytosis and neutropenia

If your doctor suspects youhave agranulocytosis or neutropenia, they will carry out a blood test to check the level ofwhite blood cellsin your blood.

Ifone of these conditionsis diagnosed,the treatment and advice offered to you will depend on the cause and severity of your condition.

Reducing your infection risk

You will often be given some advice about ways you can reduce your risk of infection while yourwhite blood cellcount is low. This may include:

• avoidingundercooked and some raw foods that could lead to food poisoning
• avoiding close contact with people you know have an infection
• making sure you store and prepare food properly
• maintaining good personal hygiene, such as washing your hands with soap and warm water regularly

Granulocytes for transfusion are ideally taken from a donor who is a friend or relative.

The donor is given corticosteroid medication plus G-CSF, which helps them to produce more granulocytes and increases the number of these in their blood. The donor's blood is then removed and the white cells are separated out for transfusion.

The transfusion is usually given through a tiny plastic tube called a cannula, which is inserted into a vein in your arm.

Bone marrow transplant

In particularly severe cases, you may need a bone marrow transplant (stem cell transplant) to replace your damaged bone marrow with healthy bone marrow stem cells taken from a donor.