PBL 7 - abnormaltiies of haematopoiesis and blood disorders Flashcards
what is red cell quantity reflected by?
measured Hb
how is WBC measured?
measured in numbers automatically with subtype differentiation
too low red cell count can be due to what and what is the collective name?
ANAEMIA
- decreased production
- increased consumption
what is too high red cell number due to and what is the name?
POLYCYTHAEMIA
- increased production
what are symptoms and signs of anaemia?
> fatigue > pallor > tachycardia > heart murmur > heart failure > jaundice (yellow eyes)
what are causes of anaemia?
> blood loss
haemolysis
increased consumption
decreased red cell lifespan (haemoglobinopathies)
lack of essential nutritional components for haematopoiesis (eg. iron, vitamins)
bone marrow problems (… including renal — lack of renal stimulus)
BM failure, displacement of normal haematopoiesis
what is haemolysis?
the destruction of RBCs prior to their 120 day lifespan
why is blood given?
to increase the oxygen carrying potential of the blood
what is MCV? what is a low MCV a sign of?
= mean corpuscular volume
- a low MCV is an indication of a loss of iron eg. through bleeding, heavy periods of women
what does a high WBC count indicate?
stress, infection
what is a large MCV a sign of?
dysfunction in bone marrow
what is polycythaemia?
having a high concentration of RBCs in your blood
what are signs and symptoms of polycythaemia?
- red/bluish skin
- complex eg. twins — one normal, one small and ill — one receives blood and one gives blood (TTT)
what are causes of polycythaemia?
- iatrogenic
- twin to twin transfusion (TTT)
- relative for increased O2 demand (small increase for smokers)
- bone marrow driven
what is leukopenia?
a decrease in the number of leucocytes
what are causes of leukopenia?
- increased consumption
- infection
- decreased production
- bone marrow problems
what is leucocytosis?
too many WBCs
what are causes of leucocytosis?
- increased production/mobilisation
- reactive: infection/stress
- primary bone marrow disease eg. leukaemia
what is a sign of leucocytosis (only in extreme cases)?
hyper viscosity
what is thrombocytosis?
too many platelets
signs and symptoms of thrombocytosis
- only in extreme cases (hyper viscosity)
- normally no action needed
causes of thrombocytosis
- increased production/mobilisation
> reactive: infection, stress
> primary bone marrow problems
what is thrombocytopenia?
too little platelets
signs and symptoms of thrombocytopenia?
- bleeding
- gums, GI, skin
causes of thrombocytopenia
> increased consumption
infection
autoimmune
decreased production — failure of bone marrow, displacement of normal haematopoiesis
in leukaemia, where has something gone wrong?
multipotent haematopoietic stem cell, common myeloid/lymphoid progenitor cells
what is normal bone marrow replaced by in abnormal bone marrow?
fat or other cells
ALL vs AML leukaemia
ALL = acute lymphoidblastic leukaemia —85% of children cured AML = acute myeloid leukaemia — 70% of children cured
what are 4 different leukaemia types?
how do you distinguish ALL from AML?
- light microscopy
- morphology
- AML: Auer rods, cytoplasmic granules
- ALL: no Auer rods or granules - flow cytometry (surface markers)
- cytochemistry
- cytogenetics
