What condition is characterized by pure red blood cell aplasia?

Pure red blood cell aplasia is characterized by a significant decrease in the production of red blood cells while maintaining normal levels of white blood cells and platelets. This condition can be seen in several clinical settings; however, Diamond-Blackfan anemia is the most classic example.

Diamond-Blackfan anemia is a type of macrocytic anemia that typically presents in infancy and is associated with substantial red cell aplasia. In this condition, there is a failure of erythroid progenitor cells to proliferate and differentiate, leading to insufficient red blood cell production. This decrease is often accompanied by a reticulocytopenic anemia, resulting in low hemoglobin levels despite normal or high levels of other cell lines.

This condition differs from iron deficiency anemia, which results in reduced hemoglobin due to lack of iron, and from hemolytic anemia, where red blood cells are destroyed faster than they are produced. Thalassemia is a genetic disorder leading to defective hemoglobin production rather than a failure of red blood cell precursors.

Thus, the characterization of pure red blood cell aplasia is most accurately aligned with Diamond-Blackfan anemia, which encapsulates the primary deficit in red blood cell production seen in this condition.