A notable change in mortality of aplastic anemia observed during the 1970s
in Japan
N Hamajima, R Sasaki, K Aoki and A Shibata
Department of Preventive Medicine, Nagoya University School of Medicine,
Japan.
The age adjusted mortality rate of aplastic anemia in Japan decreased
sharply in the mid-1970s; before this time, it had increased only slightly.
A report on the survival rate among a substantial number of patients with
aplastic anemia showed that patients who sought medical care at the
hospital after 1973 had a better survival rate than those who sought care
before 1973; the extent of improvement in the survival rate was almost
equal to the extent of decrease in the mortality rate. The supply of
platelet concentrates was found to increase with the decrease in the age
adjusted mortality rate. Although there were several factors that affected
the mortality rate from aplastic anemia, the major recognizable factor
seemed to be therapeutic improvement, mainly due to the platelet
concentrates. Probably neither a decrease in the incidence nor factors
related to the data processing of vital statistics played a major role.
Volume 72,
Issue 3,
pp. 995-999,
09/01/1988
Copyright © 1988 by The American Society of Hematology
