Data interpretation Flashcards
What are examples of microcytic anaemia?
- Iron deficiency
- Chronic disease
- Thalassaemia
- Sideroblastic anaemia
What are examples of macrocytic anaemia?
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Folate deficiency
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Multiple myeloma
- Myeloproliferative disorders
What are examples of normocytic anaemia?
- Chronic disease
- Blood loss
- Haemolytic anaemia
- Marrow infiltration
Where is iron absorbed from?
-Duodenum and jejunum
Where is vit b12 absorbed from?
-Terminal ileum
Where is folate absorbed from?
-Small bowel
What are the components of an iron profile?
- Serum iron
- Serum total iron binding capacity
- Serum ferritin
- Transferrin saturation
- Serum soluble transferring receptors
In an iron deficient state, what would an iron study show?
- Serum iron: reduced
- Serum total iron binding capacity: increased
- Serum ferritin: reduced
- Transferrin saturation: reduced
- Serum soluble transferring receptors: Increased
What serum ferritin level suggests iron deficiency?
-<15micrograms/L
What needs to be considered in someone with anaemia when looking at the ferritin level?
-Ferritin is an acute phase reactant, so the level maybe high even in an iron deficient state. It’s levels increase in the presence of inflammation
What would iron studies show for someone who had anaemia of chronic disease?
- Serum iron: normal/slightly reduced
- Serum total binding capacity: reduced
- Serum ferritin: may be raised (as acute phase reactant)
- Transferring saturation: reduced
What is the most common disease that causes vitamin B12 deficiency?
-Pernicious anaemia
>defective instrinsic factor production due to autoantibodies against gastric parietal cells
What cells will be increased on blood film in hameolytic anaemia?
-Reticulocytes
What is Direct antiglobulin test?
-A test to detect an autoimmune haemolytic anaemia.
>antibodies to human immunoglobulin are added to red cells, if they agglutinate = presence of haemolytic anaemia
How can haemolytic anaemias be classified?
- Inherited
- Acquired
What are examples of inherited haemolytic anaemias?
- Spherocytes
- Elliptocytes
- Thalassaemia
- Sickle cell anaemia
- Pyruvate kinase deficiency
- Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency
What are some examples of acquired immune causes of haemolytic anaemias?
- Autoimmune warm
- Autoimmune cold
- Transfusion reaction
- Haemolytic disease of the newborn
- Adverse drug event
What are some examples of non-immune causes of haemolytic anaemias?
- Malaria
- Microangiopathic anaemia
- Hypersplenism
- Mechanical heart valve
- Burns
How do you detect true polycythaemia?
-Use the red cell mass
>raised. Males >0.51, Females >0.48
What is apparent polycythaemia?
-A reduction in plasma volume rather than an increase in red cell mass
What are causes of apparent polycythaemia?
- Dehydration
- Gaissbock syndrome
What are causes of true primary polycythaemia?
polycythaemia rubra vera
What are causes of true secondary polycycthaemia?
- Hypoxia causes: lung disease, cyanotic cardiac disease, chronic smoking, high altitude
- Excessive erythropoietin: renal cell carcinoma, polycycstic kidney disease, adrenal tumour, hepatocellular carcinoma
What causes a neutrophillia?
- Bacterial infections
- Inflammation
- Necrosis (ie post MI)
- Corticosteroid use
- Malignancy
- Myeloproliferative disorders
- Metabolic disorders is renal failure
What are causes of neutropenia?
- Post chemo/radio
- Adverse drug reaction ie clozapine, carbimazole
- Viral infection
What are causes of lymphocytosis?
- Viral infection
- Chronic infection
- Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
- Lymphomas
What are causes of eosinophillia?
- Allergic disorders
- Parasitic infection
- Skin diseases ie eczema
- Malignancy ie hodgkins
- Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergiloosis
Causes of thrombocytosis?
- Primary: essential thrombocythaemia, CML
- Reactive: infection, inflammation, malignancy, bleeding, pregnancy, post splenectomy
How can you classify the causes of thrombocytopenia?
- Reduced platelet production due to bone marrow failure
- Increased platelet destruction
What are causes of reduced platelet production due to BM failure?
- Infection
- Drug induced
- Leukaemia
- Aplastic anaemia
- Bone marrow displacement
- Megaloblastic anaemia
What are causes of increased platelet destruction?
- Immune mediated: AI thrombocytopenia purpura, drug induced
- Hypersplenism
- Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
- DIC
What are common causes of pancytopenia?
- Aplastic anaemia
- Bone marrow infiltration
- Hypersplenism
- Megaloblastic anaemia
- Sepsis
- SLE
What causes hypochromic cells on a blood film?
- Iron deficiency
- Defective Hb synthesis
What cause microcytosis on a blood film?
- Iron deficiency
- Defective Hb synthesis
What causes macrocytosis on a blood film?
- Megaloblastic anaemia
- High alcohol intake
- Liver disease
What causes penil cells on a blood film?
-Iron deficiency
What causes spherocytes on a blood film?
- Hereditary spherocytosis
- Haemolytic anaemia
- Burns
WHat are causes of elliptocytes on a blood film?
- Hereditary elliptocytosis
- Thalassaemia
- Iron deficiency
What are causes of acnathocytes on a blood film?
- Post-splenectomy
- Liver disease
What are causes of target cells on a blood film?
- Thalassaemia
- Iron deficiency
- Post splenectomy
- Liver disease
What are causes of stomatocytes on a blood film?
- Hereditary stomatocytosis
- High alcohol intake
- Liver disease
What are causes of ecchinocytes on a blood film?
- Post splenectomy
- Liver disease
- Uraemia
What are causes of sickle cells on a blood film?
-Sickle cell anaemia
What are cuases of fragmented cells on a blood film?
- DIC
- Mechanical heart valves
- Haemolytic uraemic syndrome
- TTP
What are causes of tear cells on a blood film?
-Myelofibrosis
What are causes of poikolocytosis on a blood film?
-Iron deficiency
What are causes of anisochromia (varying shades of colour) on a blood film?
-Iron deficiency
What are Heinz bodies a sign of?
-Unstable Hb states
What are Howell-Jolly bodies a sign of?
- Post-splenectomy
- Hyposplenism
What are pappenheimer bodies a sign of?
- Post-splenecotmy
- Haemolytic anaemia
- Sideroblastic anaemia
WHat is basophilic stippling a sign of?
- Lead poisoning
- Thalassaemia
- Myelodysplasia
What are cabot rings a sign of?
- Myelodysplasia
- Megaloblastic anaemia
What are auer rods a sign of?
-AML
What are smear cells a sign of?
-CLL
What are the common tests that are included in coagulation?
- Prothrombin time
- International normalised ratio
- Activated partial thromboplastin time
- Bleeding time
What clotting factors is prothrombin time dependent on?
I, II, V, VII and X
What is measuring the PT commonly used for in clinical practice?
-Liver function
What blood test is done to measure the effects of heparin?
-APPT
What clotting factors affect the APPT?
-All except VII
What would the PT, APPT and fibrinogen show for someone on warfarin treatment?
- PT: Increased
- APTT: Normal/increased
- Fibrinogen: normal
What would the PT, APPT and fibrinogen show for someone on heparin treatment?
- PT: Normal or increased
- APPT: increased
- Fibrinogen: normal
What would the PT, APPT and fibrinogen show for someone with haemophillia?
- PT: normal
- APPT: increased
- Fibrinogen: Normal
What would the PT, APPT and fibrinogen show for someone with liver disease show?
- PT: increased
- APPT: increased
- Fibrinogen: normal
What would the PT, APPT and fibrinogen show for someone with DIC show?
- PT: increased
- APPT: increased
- Fibrinogen: decreased
What features may someone show if they have a multiple myeloma?
- Anaemia
- Renal impairment
- Low levels of normal immunoglobulins - resultant infections
- Bone involvement: bony pain, hypercalcaemia, lytic lesions
- Hyperviscosity of blood
How do you investigate hyponatraemia?
- First assess the serum osmolality. Sometimes hyperglycaemia/hyperlipidaemia can cause a pseudohyponatraemia
- Then assess volume status (ie hypovolaemic/euvolaemic/hypervolaemic)
What are causes of hypovolaemic hyponatraemia?
-Extra-renal causes (urine Na <15) >GI-D+V >Fluid shifts -Renal causes >Diuretics >Salt wasting renal disease >Nephropathy (analgesics, PCKD) >Adrenal insufficiency
What are causes of euvolaemic hyponatraeia?
-Urine Na >15 >H20 intoxication >SIADH >Drugs >Renal failure >Hyperthyroidism
What are causes of hypervolaemic hyponatraemia?
- Liver failure
- CCF
- Renal failure
- Nephrotic syndrome
How do you treat symptomatic and asymptomatic hypovolaemic hyponatraemia?
-1L 0.9% normal saline over 2-4hrs. Repeat Na and continue fluids if Na is still rising
How do you treat isovolaemic hyponatraemia?
- Symptomatic: administration of hypertonic saline and furosemid diuresis
- Asymptomatic: Water restriction
How do you treat hypervolaemic hyponatraemia?
- Treat underlying disorder
- Water and Na restriction
What are the causes of hypernatraemia?
- Diabetes insipidus
- Poor water intake eg frail elderly pts
- Administration of excess sodium in Iv fluids
- Administration of durgs containing high sodium content