HEMATOLOGY
FOR
MIDDLE EAST STUDENTS
Dr. Anwar Sheikha
MBChB, FRCP, FRCPI, FCAP, FRCPA, FRCPath., FACP
Associate Professor of Hematology
Head of the Hematology Department
Senior Consultant Clinical Hematologist
King Khalid University Medical College & Asir Central Hospital
Abha, Saudi Arabia
Contents:
Chapter 1
Blood Cell Morphology
Chapter 2
Anemias
Chapter 3
Leukemias
Chapter 4
Lymphomas
Chapter 5
Paraproteinemias
Chapter 6
Myeloproliferative Disorders
Chapter 7
Abnormalities of the White Blood Cells
Chapter 8
Bleeding Disorders
Chapter 9
Transfusion Medicine
Chapter 10
The Spleen
Chapter 11
Examination Case Studies
Chapter 12
Half a Thousand Hematology Exam Bank
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Introduction
“Blood is the essence of life”
‫الدم جوهر الحياة‬
After nearly two decades of teaching hematology in the Middle East, I managed to
change the contents of my lectures from being a pure replica of a Western hematology
book to one that is more of my local experience and better suited to native students. I
felt that our students are more in need of local experience with blood diseases common
to our region than AIDS-related hematological problems or pernicious anemia, which is
so rare in this part of the world that I have had only seen three cases in my long
professional life in the region. Working in the sole referral hospital of a hematology
population approaching two million people and caring for almost all of the patients with
blood diseases gave me a wealth of information and experience that I can comfortably
share with my students.
Out of that desire and with easy access to projection slides, computer and PowerPoint
came the idea of collecting my lectures into easily accessible handouts. I have been
revising them annually, add every new information I have been getting locally and from
my international conference attendance and then print them out to be distributed to my
students prior to each lecture. When the college started negating the benefits of
handouts and stressed on directing students to resort to reference books, I had that
extreme urge to collect all my lectures into this handy book. This book between your
hands is the cream of my experience here and I feel responsible for every word and
sentence of it.
Hematology is basically taught in the medical college to pathology students, internal
medicine students and as important ingredients in Gynecology & Obstetrics practice,
Surgery and almost every other branch of medicine. I am not much of a proponent of
this fragmentation but I understand that the issue is an inevitable consequence of blood
being part of every system and specialty. It is also taught to other colleges like
Dentistry, Pharmacy and Medical Sciences. Blood cells circulate everywhere in the
body and every organ disease could present itself by some sort of blood changes.
Blood diseases could also impose their effects on almost every system in the body and
it is not uncommon for a patient to present to an orthopedic surgeon or a neurologist or
a nephrologist or more frequently to a general pediatrician for what will turn out to be a
leukemia or a myeloma.
Nothing could make me happier more than remarks from my old time students, now
colleagues, who inform me of using my handouts even in their postgraduate training
and examinations. I hope that this modest effort continues to be an indispensable
resource for students of hematology in this important part of the world.
Before concluding this introduction, I would like to thank my wife, who is pursuing my
path of doing pathology in the United States, and my kids Lana, Tara and Showan for
beautifying my life in such a way that I had the desire, urge and time to author this
modest book.
Anwar Sheikha,
MBChB, FRCP, FRCPA, FRCPI, FCAP, FRCPath, FACP
Associate Professor & Senior Consultant Clinical & Lab. Hematologist
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