18 Approach to Patients with Anemia Flashcards
Process by which the formed elements of blood are produced
Hematopoiesis
Two main hematopoietic lineages
Common myeloid progenitor
Common lymphoid progenitor
Main regulatory hormone of red cell production which is produced in the kidney
EPO
Stimulus for EPO production
Low atmospheric oxygen level
Tissue hypoxia
Living in high altitudes
Cardiovascular failure
Decrease in hemoglobin
Often recognized with lab test after px present with s/s
Anemia
Diagnostic values for anemia
M: <13.0 g/dL
F: <12.0 g/dL
Diagnostic approach to anemia
S/s Lab tests History PE Peripheral blood smear Retics count
First and important step in diagnostic
History
History includes
Nutritional status Easy fatigability Family history Drug intake Presence of chronic disease Inflammatory diseases Menstruation and pregnancy history
At-risk population
Children
Adolescents
Pregnant
Elderly
S/s to check in PE
Pallor
Pale conjuctiva
Systolic flow murmur
Palmar creases lighter in color than the surrounding tissue
Oxygen-carrying capacity
Hemoglobin
Percentage of RBCs in relation to the entire volume of blood
Hematocrit
Indicative of cell size
Measured in femtoliters
Mean corpuscular volume
MCV diagnostic values for anemia
<80 fL - microcytosis
>100 fL - macrocytosis
Amount of Hb in a particular red cell
Measured in pg
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin/mea
Amount of Hb in a certain volume
Increased in hereditary spherocytosis
Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration
Measure of variance of the red cells in a particular blood sample
Increased in hemolysis, thalassemia, post-blood transfusion
RBC distribution width
Increases when bone marrow is trying to recover
Monocytes
PBS result for IDA
Microcytic, hyprochromic anemia
PBS result for megaloblastic anemia
Macrocytic, normochromic anemia
Possible causes of megaloblastic anemia
B12 and folate deficiencies
D. latum infection
What causes folate deficiency
Low vegetables intake
Malabsorption
Gastric bypass
Provides important information about defects in the red cell production
Used as a complement to the red cell indices indicated in the CBC
PBS
Variation in cell size
Anisocytosis
Small red cells with no central pallor
Correlates with increase in RDW
Spherocytes
Variation in cell shape
Suggests defect in maturation of red cell precursors
Poikilocytosis
Have bull’s-eye appearance and are seen in thalassemia and in liver disease
Membrane is pulled towards the center as it tries to preserve its volume
Target cells
Red cells that are recently released from the bone marrow
Seen in polychromasia
Reticulocytes
Abnormally high number of immature red blood cells in circulation
Polychromasia
Used to see if the marrow is responding to the anemia
Corrected reticulocyte count (Retic %)