Haematology Flashcards
What haematological values in blood results indicate anaemia or iron?
Haemoglobin Mean cell volume Ferritin Vitamin B12 Folate
What haematological values in blood results indicate platelet dysfunction?
Platelets
Bleeding time
What haematological values in blood results indicate clotting dysfunction?
Prothrombin time
Activated partial thromboplastin time
Bleeding time
What haematological values in blood results indicate malignancy or something else?
White blood cells Neutrophils Lymphocytes Eosinophils Reticulocytes
How would you categorise haematological symptoms?
Anaemia
Bleeding
Clotting
Malignancy
What is serum iron?
measure of the ferric (Fe3+) ions bound to serum transferrin
What is serum ferritin?
: intracellular iron storage protein whose levels are indicative of the body’s total iron stores (can be increased in inflammatory disorders so interpret with other results).
What does a raised reticulocyte count indicate?
Anaemia in which the blood cells are being destroyed in the periphery
Adaptation to high O2 demands
What are the causes of acute leukocytosis (high leukocytosis)?
Infection, inflammation, post-surgery
Stress respond or steroid medication
Acute leukaemia
What are the causes of chronic leukocytosis (high leukocytosis)?
Chronic infection, smoking
Leukaemia, lymphoma
Pregnancy
What are the main white blood cells?
Neutrophils, lymphocytes
What is leukopenia?
Low white blood cell count
What are the causes of leukopenia (low leukocytosis)?
Infection
Medication (chemo)
B12/folate deficiency
Autoimmune disease
HIV
What is neutropenic sepsis?
When neutrophil counts are low (<1.5) there is a higher infection risk. For this reason, if a neutropenic patient is febrile it is a medical emergency that requires prompt treatment with broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics. This is known as neutropenic sepsis or febrile neutropenia.
What are the causes of lymphocytosis?
Viral infection
Smoking
Hyposplenism/post-splenectomy
Malignancy: leukaemia and certain types of lymphoma
Pertussis: rates are increasing in the U.K. with decreased vaccination rates
What are the causes of lymphopenia?
Infection Older age (rarely clinically significant in this context) Alcohol excess HIV Autoimmune disease Bone marrow disease Medications: cytotoxic agents, immunosuppressants Renal failure
What are the causes of monocytosis?
Bacterial infection
Autoimmune disease
Steroids
What are the causes of monocytopenia?
Is not usually clinically relevant unless it is very low (i.e. near 0)
What are the causes of eosinophilia?
Allergies/atopy
Parasitic infection
Autoimmune disease (e.g. vasculitis)
Medications (e.g. antibiotics, anti-epileptics, allopurinol)
Gastrointestinal disease (e.g. eosinophilic oesophagitis)
Respiratory disease (e.g. asthma)
What are the causes of basophilia?
Allergic reactions/atopy Iron deficiency Chronic inflammation Hypothyroidism Infection Haematological malignancies (myeloproliferative disorders)
What are the causes of an elevate blast count?
Acute leukaemia
Myeloproliferative disorders
Reactive (severe infection or treatment with G-CSF)
Cytotoxic agents (chemotherapy)
What are causes of acute thrombocytopenia? (low platelet count)
Consumption (e.g. infection, bleeding)
Acute viral infection
Medications (e.g. antibiotics, anti-epileptics, cytotoxic agents)
Disseminated intravascular coagulation/microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia (e.g. TTP, HUS)
Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT)
Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
What are causes of chronic thrombocytopenia? (low platelet count)
Hypersplenism Cirrhosis Alcohol excess Medications (e.g. anti-epileptics, cytotoxic agents) ITP Autoimmune disease B12/folate deficiency Iron deficiency HIV Hepatitis B/C Haematological disease Bone marrow failure
What are causes of thrombocytosis? (high platelet count)
Reactive: inflammation/infection
Myeloproliferative disorders: typically essential thrombocythaemia although any myeloproliferative disorder can elevate platelet counts
Iron deficiency
Hypospenlism/post-splenectomy
Underlying malignancy: likely secondary to underlying inflammatory processes
