Peripheral Blood Smears Flashcards
Blood smears are made manually using the “___________ technique”
Wedge
What are the two ways the wedge technique can be done? 
-either push (You approach the blood drop from above with a 30 to 45° angle) 
-or pull (you approach the blood drop from the opposite end) With a top spreader slide
Which method gives you the most control and tends to be gentler on the cells, especially fragile leukemic cells?
Push smears
What three things regulates the thickness of the blood smear?
-changing the angle of the spider slide
-By varying the speed of spreading
-Using a smaller or larger drop of blood
The spreader slide ____________ be reused as another Spreader. 
CANNOT
However, it can be used as the next smear slide 
What are three characteristics of well-prepared wedge blood smears?
-Cover at least half the length of the glass slide
-Have a gradual transition from thick to thin areas with no waves, streaks, troughs, holes, or bubbles
-terminate in a straight or slightly curved feathered edge with “Rainbow highlights”
Extremely Thick smears are caused by…
• blood drop that is too large
• Spreading the blood to quickly
• Using a Spreader slide angle that is too high
Extremely thin smears are caused by…
• using a drop of blood that is too small
• Spreading to slowly
• Using a spreader slide angle that is too low
What causes a bullet shaped smear?
By not allowing enough time for the blood to wick all the way across the slide before making the smear.
What causes jagged margins on the finished smear?
A rough edge spreader or dirty slides 
What can cause drying artifacts?
-Too slow drying (due to humidity or a slide that is too thick)
What is the appearance of drying artifacts?
A hairy appearance of the cytoplasm of normal lymphs, shrinkage of other leukocytes, and most commonly a false hypochromia in the RBCs
What can cause false hypochromia?
A sharp rather than a gradual transition between the pinker Rim and the lighter Center, described as “Punched out”, or ”moth-eaten” 
What should you do if your patient has a high packed red cell volume (Hematocrit)?
Decrease the angle of the spreader (And vice versa)
- Increased hematocrit = decreased angle *
An extremely _______ Hct Can cause nucleated cells of all types to shrink and stain more intensely, due to the excess plasma in the sample
Low
