Hematology - Misc. Material + Broken Spreadsheets Flashcards
Common Hematology Complaints
(list 9)
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Lightheadedness
- Pallor
- Shortness of breath
- Easy bruising
- Bleeding problems
- Frequent illness
- Palpitations
Common “Fatigue” Differentials
(list 5)
- Anemia
- Thyroid disorder
- Insufficient sleep
- Depression
- Drug use
Important Historical Questions in Eval Anemia
(6)
- Onset of s/sx, duration indicates chronic disease or acute stressor
- Nutrition, **especially vegan or vegetarian
- Sleep patterns
- Signs of bleeding
- Gums
- Rectal (bloody stool, assume colon cancer until proven otherwise)
- Prevoius episodes
- Associated symptoms
Significant Clinical Exam Findings for General Hematologic Disorders
(8 categories, 11 findings)
- General Impression
- Toxic appearance
- Skin
- Petichiae
- Purpura
- HEENT
- Conjunctiva/gums pale or spontaneously bleeding
- Tongue c smooth surface
- Lymphatic
- lymphadopathy
- Cardiac
- tachycardia
- Abdo
- splenomegaly
- hepatomegaly
- MSK
- bone pain, shaft > joint
- Neuro
- sensory abnormalities, stocking glove
Reasons for total RBC mass decrease
(list 3)
- Decreased production
- Abnormal maturation
- Increased destruction
Decreased Hemoglobin and Hematocrit Values
(male and female, just list lower borders)
Males
•Hgb < 13.5 g/dl
•Hct < 41%
Females
•Hgb < 12 g/dl
•Hct < 37%
*Note: these are ranges from Current. Each lab will send you their own reference values to go off of *
Anemia Etiology
(2 categories, place microcytic and macrotcytic anemias in each category)
- Congenital
- Thalasemia
- Sickle cell disease
- Acquired
- Dietary
- Iron Def anemia
- Vit B12 deficiency anemia
- Folic Acid deficiency
- Dietary
Fill in the blanks

See picture below. These are just supplimentary notes
Production defect – will look different depending on cause. Normally shaped RBC but insufficient amount
•Underlying renal or hepatic disease (EPO deficiency)
•Underlying bone marrow disease (cannot actually produce)
•Blood loss in this category; the RBCs will continue to produce at high levels but it is getting lost
Maturation defect – normal amount but not forming correctly
•Thalasemia is a hemoglobinopathy
•Nuclear – RNA and ribosomes are okay. Therefore they can produce cytoplasm as sluggish nucleus growth until the age of production
Survival Defect
•Cells are produced normally but are destroyed early
•Remember, malaria is a parasite
•Drugs can cause hemolysis

Most Common Anemia S/Sx
(5 symptoms, 6 signs)
Symptoms
- Fatigue
- Headache (decreased oxygen to brain)
- Exertional dyspnea
- Faintness
- Cold extremities
Common signs
- Tachycardia
- Orthostatic hypotension (less blood, less pressure)
- Pallor
- Jaundice (hemolytic origin)
- Smooth tongue (loss of papillae, nutrient deficiency origin)
- Koilonychia (spoon shaped nails, iron deficiency origin)
Microcytic Anemia Disease Acronym
TICS
Thalasemias
Iron Deficiency Anemia
Anemia of Chronic Disease
Siderobastic Anemia
Define Iron Deficiency Anemia
Inadequate supply of iron for synthesis of hemoglobin
Most common cause of anemia worldwide, 20% of white female Americans have it
Etiology, Iron Deficiency Anemia
(4 general)
Iron absorption >1-1.5 mg/day (after absorption) due to:
- GI tract bleeding (acute or chronic)
- Often colon cancer in elderly
- Pt will usually present late in anemia disease progression
- Chronic asprin or NSAID use
- Think geriatrics taking them for arthritis
- Low iron intake
- Increased Fe demands
- Pregnancy/lactation
- Heavy menstrual bleeding
Pathophysiology, Iron Deficiency Anemia
Heme molecule cannot bind oxygen without sufficient iron
S/Sx, Iron Deficiency Anemia
(6 signs, 5 symptoms)
Signs
- Brittle nails
- Koilonychia (spoon shaped nails)
- Pale conjunctiva
- Smooth tongue (typical of all malnutrition anemias)
- Tachycardia
- CHF, if untreated for prolonged period
Symptoms
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Palpitations
- SOB
- Pica
Note - Pica is often a board question
Differential Diagnoses, Iron Deficiency Anemia
(3, c differntiating factors from iron deficiency)
- Anemia of chronic disease
- Normal ferritin levels
- Low Serum Fe
- Thallesemia
- Sig. low MCV
- Normal or inc. RBC
- Sideroblastic anemia
- Inc. serum Fe
- Inc. % saturation
Diagnostic Tests c Results, Iron Deficiency Anemia
(5 tests, listed in order in which they become abnormal in disease progression)
- CBC – microcytic hypochromic RBC in late anemia progression
- Serum ferritin – <12 mcg/dl is highly reliable (labs will provide norm. ranges)
- Serum Fe
- Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC)
- % Saturation (of Fe in proteins)
Medical Treatment, Iron Deficiency Anemia
(2)
Dependent on cause. Ultimately tx underlying reason
- Ferrous sulfate 325 mg po tid
- Expect normal hematocrit within 3 weeks
- Expect baseline within 2 mo
- Continue 6 mo to restore Fe stores in liver and heart
- *If pt resistant to pills, council on dietary habits *
- Parenteral Fe (only if oral fails)
- Must be delivered in the hospital due to high risk for anaphylaxis
Patient Education/Prevention, Iron Deficiency Anemia
Once levels are returned to normal, practice etiology-specific practices to prevent recurrence
Normal Physiology of Iron Ingestion and Transport
Notes -
- only 10% of the 10-20 mg of dietary iron is absorbed
- transferrin carries all of the iron from the GI tract

Regulation of Iron
(4 general principles)
- Iron absorption
- Iron recycling via marcophages
- Iron loss
- Interaction c several transport PRO
- Transferrin
- Major transporter of Fe in palsma
- Ferritin
- Cellular storage of iron (most important testing is for this)
- Ferroportin
- Hepicidin
Serum Ferritin, Serum Fe, TIBC, % Saturation
(define and differentiate)
Serum Ferritin - Amount of stored iron bound to ferritin. This is iron from heart and liver. In iron deficiency anemia this will drop first as a compensatory mechanism
Serum Fe - Concentration of Fe bound to transferrin in plasma. This is the iron immediately availible for use in hemoglobin
TIBC, Total Iron Binding Capacity - Measurement of all proteins availible for Fe binding (empty seats on the bus)
% Saturation - Percentage of proteins saturated c Fe (full seats on the bus)
Define Anemia of Chronic Disease
Anemia from inflammatory disease → impaired marrow response to EPO
Etiology, Anemia of Chronic Disease
(4)
Associated c chronic diseases that chronically inflame
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Chronic infection
- Malignancy
- Chronic renal disease (often comorbid c iron and folate deficiency anemias due to RBC loss from hemodialysis; look for ansiocytosis and polychromasia)
Pathophysiology, Anemia of Chronic Disease
Disruption originating from macrophages (still in research)
- Macrophage release of cytokines (interleukins)
- IL-6, IL-1β
- Increased liver production of hepcidin
- Hepcidin decreases iron absorption form GI epithelium
- Hepcidin decreases recycled iron export from macrophages due to inhibited ferroportin
- TNF-α, IL-1β
- Inappropriate EPO production in kidney
- Reduced erythropoiesis in BM
Bone marrow dysfunction due to various causes
- T-cell mediated autoimmune suppression of hematopoiesis (most common)
- Radiation therapy
- Chemotherapy
- Toxins
- Chronic alcohol abuse
- Lead















