ANEMIA AND ARTHRITIS

My brother is only 6 yrs old and he is sick for 1 month,the doctor check his blood and the result is low blood so they told me that i need to find a blood donor for my brother the next day i give blood..The doctors diagnose is ANEMIA WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS..so  they give my brother blood 2x.. and the next laboratory in his blood is turn to normal.. Then the X-RAY result is CONSIDER RIGHT HILAR ADENOPHATHIES..  they gave me a request to the laboratory to do the ANA test to my brother... what do i do now??? he is sick on and off for almost a month until now.. PLS HELP!!! im from philippines..

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a detailed clinical evaluation and further investigation, it would be difficult to comment on the situation. Hilar lymphadenopathy is seen in a few infections, granulomatous diseases, autoimmune/ related conditions, malignancies etc. Almost all the conditions can be associated with anemia. This may need further investigations to come to a conclusive diagnosis. After a cause is diagnosed, it can be managed accordingly. Meanwhile he may be treated symptomatically as suggested by doctor. I would suggest discussing the situation in detail with his treating doctor.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!

[aniel]

he took an ANA and RF and it turns out to be negative... the doctor said that we need a bone marrow test for my brother???