Hematology Exam 1 Flashcards
Leukopenia
decreased WBC count
Leukocytosis
Increased WBC count
Leukemia
Uncontrolled proliferation of a clone of malignant WBCs
Neutrophilia
Increased neutrophils, often signals bacterial infection
Neutropenia
decreased neutrophils, many causes including viral infections or certain medications
thrombocytes
platelets
leukocytes
WBC
erythrocytes
RBC
Most common hematology test ordered
CBC
Plasma
The liquid portion of blood that provides coagulation enzymes
RBC count diluent used and dilution factor
Normal saline used at a 1:200 dilution
Anemia
loss of oxygen carrying capacity of RBC, often due to decreased RBC or decreased Hb
Polycythemia
increased RBC count, leads to hyperviscosity
Description of hemoglobin measurement (what reagent is used, what type of blood is used, how does the test work)
Drabkin’s reagent used (potassium cyanide and potassium ferricyanide) with whole blood.
Hemoglobin is converted to cyanmethemoglobin and absorbance is measured at 540nm on spec, color intensity compared to a standard and converted to a hemoglobin concentration
Hematocrit
%RBC in whole blood
How to perform a manual hematocrit
Put blood in capillary tube, centrifuge, measure column of RBCs and divide by total length (RBCs + plasma)
Hematocrit = RBC/Whole Blood
Function of erythrocytes
Biconcave cells filled with hemoglobin which transports O2 and CO2
Mean Cell Volume (MCV)
reflects RBC size (fL)
Mean cell hemoglobin (MCH)
mass of hemoglobin per cell (pg)
Mean cell hemoglobin concentration (MCHC)
reflects RBC staining intensity and amount of central pallor (g/dL)
RBC distribution width (RDW)
degree of variation in RBC volume (%)
high variation = increased RDW
low variation = decreased RDW
Reticulocytes (AKA polychromatic erythrocytes)
large, immature RBC released from bone marrow that stain slightly blue-gray
What does increased reticulocytes tell you?
Indicates the bone marrow responding to anemia or decreased oxygen carrying capacity (bone marrow is trying to increase RBC count)
Manual reticulocyte procedure
Counting reticulocytes by microscopy - reticulocytes will have a presence of RNA in the cell and will stain blue/gray on a Wright’s blood smear
Function of WBC
protecting host from infection
Manual WBC count diluent and dilution
Diluent - dilute acid solution
Dilution - 1:20
Neutrophils - function and structure
phagocytic cells that engulf and destroy bacteria
multi-lobed nucleus
band neutrophils vs segmented neutrophils
band neutrophils are less mature and have a nucleus in a U or S shape
segmented neutrophils are mature phagocytes and have a multi lobed nucleus
what is a “left shift”
increased band on band neutrophils that indicates a bacterial infection
eosinophils - function and structure
immune system regulation - associated with allergic response or parasitic infection
bright orange/red cytoplasmic granules
eosinophilia
increased eosinophils (allergic response or parasitic infection)
basophils - structure and what does basophilia indicate
basophils have dark purple irregular granules that obscure the nucleus
basophilia indicates hematologic disease
(RARE)
lymphocytes - structure and function
large and round nucleus, very thin rim of nongranular cytoplasm.
make antibodies and fight viral infections
lymphocytosis
increased lymphocyte count, associated with viral infectioons
lymphopenia
decreased lymphocytes, associated with drug therapy or immunodeficiency
monocytes - structure and function
immature macrophage, identifies and phagocytizes foreign particles, mounts immune response.
“ground glass” appearance with indented nucleus
monocytosis
increase monocytes associated with inflammation or certain infections
function of platelets
trigger clot formation, major cell controlling hemostasis
cell description of a platelet
round/oval, anucleate, slightly granular
rbc description
anucleate, biconcave, discoid cells filled with Hgb
what process is used for manual platelet count?
phase microscopy
Order of most common white blood cells to least common
neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, basophils
Do males or females have a higher CBC reference range? Why?
Males will have a higher reference range due to having testosterone and more muscle mass
QA vs QC
QC is more of the “analytical” quality control (measures that are included during the process to ensure the test is working properly and results are valid and reproducible)
QA is more of the “post- and pre-analytical” quality control (ensures final results are accurate)
how to calculate SD when given the variance
the SD is the square root of the variance
How to calculate CV% (coefficient of variation)
CV% = (standard deviation/mean) x 100