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What Causes Low WBC Count And Positive D-dimer Test In An Elderly Woman?

Posted on Thu, 15 Sep 2016

Question: I'm a 65 year old osteosarcoma patient. I was diagnosed October 2013 with it. I had chemo, proton therapy and radiation followed by more chemo. the osteosarcoma has remained stable however I just went to the hospital bc of being very weak and tired and short of breath. My blood cell count were critically low. wbc was 1.7 and platelets were 33. D-dimer was elevated as well. they are suspecting leukemia and did a bone marrow biopsy which is pending results. I guess my question is another option and what the prognosis of leukemia would be in my case. is it curable or treatable?

Answered by Dr. Shailja Puri (45 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Symptoms are suggestive of osteosarcoma metastasis rather than leukemia

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query on Health Care Magic.

A low white blood count of 1.7 thousand per cubic millilitre is not indicative of leukemia.
Leukemia is commonly characterized by high white blood cell count.

A positive D-dimer test is indicative of thrombo-embolism or formation of clot somewhere in the blood vessels.

Shortness of breath is suggestive of pulmonary thrombo-embolism.
Weakness, shortness of breath, low white blood cell count and low platelets can be due to metastasis of osteosarcoma instead of leukemia.

I suggest you to consult your treating doctor for clinical assessment and relevant investigations to rule out possibility of metastasis.

Let me know if there's any further query.

Thanks and take care
Dr Shailja Puri

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee