Hematology Basics Flashcards
(20 cards)
Sample Processing
Blood type, tube, issues
Whole blood
Purple EDTA
Clotted, contaminated, lipemic, icteric, hemolyzed, mislabeled, wrong tube
CBC Procedure
Check for validation
Check for clotting/issues
Call criticals (don’t want to wait for diff if critical)
Check diff
Send to path or report
Blood Smear
Areas and uses, blood thickness
Feathered edge: platelet clumping, cannot use for leukocytes or RBCs
Monolayer: for WBCs and red cells
Thick blood: push slower, decreased angle
Thin blood: push faster, increased angle
WBC Estimates
10x, 40x calculations, pros and cons
10x: avg 5-6 fields / 5
Faster, cannot differentiate easily
40x: avg 10 fields x 2
Differentiate easier, slower
Platelet Estimates
Procedure, calculation, reference range, clumping
Always on 100x
Avg 5 fields x 15
150 - 400 x 10^3 / uL
Clumping can falsely decrease count
NRBCs
Minimum, calculation
Correct for NRBC if >10
(WBC x 100) / (100 + # NRBCs)
H/H
Function and units
Hemoglobin: carry oxygen and CO2, buffers blood, g/dL
Hematocrit: packed RBC volume, %
HemoCue
Procedure
Measures HGB by lysing RBCs and mixing with reagents, will self test in a microcuvette
Rule of 3
RBC x 3 = HGB
HGB x 3 = HCT within 3%
Works best with normal morphology
WBC Reference Range
3.6 - 10.6 x 10^3/uL
RBC Reference Range
4 - 6 x 10^6/uL
HGB Reference Range
12 - 18 g/dL
HCT Reference Range
35 - 50%
MCV
Reference range, calculation
Mean cell volume, micro/macrocytic
76(80) - 100 fL
(%HCT x 10) / RBC
MCH
Reference range, calculation
Mean cell hemoglobin, hyper/hypochromic
26 - 34 pg
(HGB x 10) / RBC
MCHC
Range, calculation
32 - 36 g/dL
HGB / HCT as a decimal
Absolute WBC Calculation
Specific cell count as decimal x total WBC count
Relative WBC Ranges
segs, bands, lymphs, monos, eos, basos
Segmented neutrophils: 40-80
Bands: 0-5
Lymphs: 25-35
Monocytes: 2-10
Eosinophils: 0-5
Basophils: 0-1
Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR)
What is it, ref range, methods
Non specific test for inflammation, rate that blood falls
0-20 mm/hour
Wintrobe tube or automated
ESR Effects
Cells and technical factors
Red Cell Factors:
Fall faster: large cells, anemia
Fall slower: polycythemia, poikilocytosis
Technical factors
Fall faster: tilted tube, higher temperature
Fall slower: lower temperature, old samples