Chapter 19: Blood Flashcards
Arterial Stick
The taking of a blood sample form an artery rather than a vein. It is usually more painful due to arteries being deeper, having more nerves, and having thicker walls.
Blood Bank
Place where blood is collected, typed, separated into components, stored, and prepared for transfusion to recipients.
Bone Marrow Biopsy
The removal of a small piece of bone marrow for either laboratory analysis, to diagnose and stage some forms of cancer, to diagnose other blood disorders, to find the source of unexplained fever, or to diagnose fibrosis of bone marrow or myeloma, a tumor composed of cells normally found in the bone marrow.
Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation
A serious disorder in which the proteins that control blood clotting become abnormally active, causing small blood clots to form, which can prevent blood from reaching vital organs.
Dyscrasia
An abnormal condition, especially of the blood.
Ecchymosis
Skin discoloration caused by the escape of blood into tissues from ruptured blood vessels.
Embolism
A condition in which a drifting blood clot (an embolus) becomes stuck in a blood vessel, blocking circulation to the area downstream.
Hematology
The science concerned with the medical study of blood and blood-producing organs.
Hemochromatosis
A rare metabolic disorder wherein the skin has a bronze coloration; accompanied by cirrhosis and severe diabetes mellitus; caused by the deposit of the iron-protein complex hemosiderin in tissues.
Hemophilia
Inherited disorder characterized by the inadequate production of clotting factors.
Hemopoietic Growth Factor
A group of proteins that cause blood cells to grow and mature.
Hemosiderosis
An increase in tissue iron stores without any associated damage.
Hypervolemic
Having an excessive blood volume.
Hypovolemic
Having a low blood volume
Iron Overload
Pathology in which iron accumulates in the tissues; characterized by bronzed skin, enlarged liver, diabetes mellitus, and abnormalities of the pancreas.
Myeloproliferative Disorder
A group of slow-growing blood cancers, including chronic myelogenous leukemia, characterized by large numbers of abnormal RBCs, WBCs, or platelets growing and spreading in the bone marrow and the peripheral blood.
Normovelemic
Referring to a normal blood volume.
Phlebotomist
Medical technician who extracts blood by venipuncture for treatment or for laboratory analysis.
Plaque
An abnormal accumulation of large quantities of lipids within a blood vessel wall.
Plasmapheresis
A procedure consisting of the removal of blood from a person, separating the blood cells from plasma, and returning to these blood cells to the person’s circulation, diluted with fresh plasma or a substitute. Used to treat autoimmune disorders.
Schilling Test
The test to determine whether the body absorbs vitamin B12, normally.
Septicemia
Systemic toxic illness due to bacterial invasion of the bloodstream form a local infection. Signs and symptoms include chills, fever, and exhaustion. The disorder is treated with massive doses of antibiotics. Also known as blood poisoning.
Thrombolytic
An agent that causes the breakup of a thrombus (clot).
Thrombus
A blood clot attached to the luminal (inner) surface of a blood vessel.
Agglutination
The aggregation of red blood cells due to interactions between surface antigens and plasma antibodies.
Agglutinins
Immunoglobulins (antibodies) in plasma that react with antigens on the surfaces of foreign red blood cells when donor and recipient differ in blood type.
Agglutinogens
Genetically determined surface antigens on red blood cells that stimulate the formation of specific agglutinins.
Basophils
Circulating granulocytes (white blood cells) similar in size and function to tissue mast cells.
Bilirubin
A pigment that is the by-product of hemoglobin catabolism.
Carbaminohemoglobin
Hemoglobin bound to carbon dioxide molecules.
Clotting Response
The series of events the result in the formation of a clot.
Common Pathway
The final clotting pathway that begins with the activation of clotting factor X by enzyme complexes from either the extrinsic or intrinsic pathways. The common pathway ends with the formation of a blood clot when the enzyme thrombin converts soluble fibrinogen to insoluble fibrin.
Differential Count
An estimate of the number of each type of white blood cell on the basis of a random sampling of 100 white blood cells.
Endothelium
The simple squamous epithelial cells that line blood and lymphatic vessels.
Eosinophils
A type of white blood cell with blood nucleus and red-staining granules; participates in the immune response and is especially important during allergic reactions.
Erythrocyte
A red blood cell (RBC); has no nucleus and contains large quantities of hemoglobin.
Erythropoiesis
The formation of red blood cells.
Erythropoietin (EPO)
A hormone released by most tissues, and especially by the kidneys, when oxygen levels decrease; stimulates erythropoiesis (red blood cell formation) in red bone marrow.
Extrinsic Pathway
A clotting pathway that begins with damage to blood vessels or surrounding tissues and ends with the formation of tissue factor complex.
Fibrin
Insoluble protein fiber that forms the basic framework of a blood clot.
Fibrinogen
A plasma protein that is soluble precursor of the insoluble protein fibrin.
Hematocrit
The percentage of formed elements in a sample of blood; also called volume of packed red cells (VPRC) or packed cell volume (PCV).
Hematuria
The abnormal presence of red blood cells in urine.
Heme
A porphyrin ring containing a central iron atom that can reversibly bind oxygen molecules ; a component of the hemoglobin molecule.
Hemocytoblasts
Stem cells whose divisions produce each of the various populations of blood cells; also called hematopoietic stem cells.
Hemoglobin (Hb/Hgb)
A protein composed of four globular subunits, each bound to a heme molecule; gives red blood cells the ability to transport oxygen in the blood.
Hemopoiesis
Blood cell formation and differentiation.
Hemostasis
The stoppage of bleeding.
Heparin
An anticoagulant released by activated basophils and mast cells.
Hypoxia
A low tissue oxygen concentration.
Intrinsic Pathway
A pathway of the clotting system that begins with activation of platelets and ends with the formation of factor X activator complex.
Leukocytes
A white blood cell.
Megakaryocytes
Bone marrow cells responsible for the formation of platelets.
Monocytes
Phagocytic agranulocytes (white blood cells) in the circulating blood.
Natural Killer (NK) Cells
Types of lymphocyte that can kill target cells without previous sensitivity.
Neutrophils
A white blood cell that is very numerous and normally the first of the mobile phagocytic cells to arrive to an area of injury or infection.
Plasma Cell
An activated B cell that secretes antibodies.
Plasma
The fluid ground substance of whole blood; what remains after the cells have been removed from a sample of whole blood.
Platelets
Small packets of cytoplasm that contain enzymes important in the clotting response; manufactured in bone marrow by megakaryocytes.
Proenzyme
An inactive enzyme secreted by an epithelial.
Serum
The ground substance of blood plasma from which clotting agents have been removed.
T Cells
Lymphocytes responsible for cell-mediated immunity and for the coordination and regulation of the immune response; includes cytotoxic T cells, helper T cells, regulatory T cells, and memory T cells.
Thrombin
The enzyme that converts soluble fibrinogen to insoluble fibrin.
White Blood Cells (WBCs)
The granulocytes and agranulocytes of whole blood; also called leukocytes.
