RBC Hgb Disorders Flashcards
What are the three main broad causes of anemia?
- excessive blood loss: GI– ulcers, colon cancer, esophageal varices* (most rapid blood loss)
- excessive destruction: spleen, hemolytic anemia, sickle cell, thalassemias, enzyme deficiencies, membrane disorders
- deficient production: iron, B12, folate
What are the three main morphologic causes of anemia?
microcytic hypochromic (iron deficiency)
normocytic normochromic (Anemia of chronic disease)
Macrocytic normochromic (B12, folate anemia)
What are the three main etiologic causes of anemia?
- decreased production
- increased loss or destruction
- increased plasma volume
What is polycythemia? Types?
-a red cell abnormality characterized by too many RBC
Types:
- primary polycythemia (polycythemia vera)
- secondary polycythemia (altitude)
- benign erythrocytosis
When interpreting a CBC what do you look at first?
SIZE and then kinetics..
When trying to distinguish between destruction and production problem what lab value would you look into?
RETICULOCYTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What is the life cycle of a red blood cell?
Stem cell to reticulocyte = 1wk
Reticulocyte to erythrocyte = 24-48hrs
*loses ribosomes, mito, and hgb.
*****This one is correct, forget what you learned in the previous deck.
When does a RBC accumulate Hgb?
during transformation between normoblast to reticulocyte.
What governs red cell production?
- erythropoiesis is governed by tissue oxygen needs, O2 content sensed by the kindey which produces EPO.
- any condition causing decreased in O2 transport in the blood produces an increase in RBC production.
Where is EPO made? How does it work?
- 90% kidney
- 10% liver
-promotes hgb synthesis, increases membrane proteins, and causes differentiation of erythroblasts.
What is most important function of erythrocyte?
-transport hgb
What factors influence O2 affinity for Hgb?
- pH
- CO2
- Temp
What structures make up hemoglobin?
- 2 alpha chains, 2 Beta chains
- 1 heme, iron, and O2 per chain.
What binds the O2 in hgb?
IRON!!
What makes up hemoglobin chain? (alpha or beta)
- heme + polypeptides
The rate of hgb synthesis depends upon what? Where is it stored?
the availability of iron.
- 80% bound to heme
- 20% stored in spleen, bone marrow, liver.
What test(s) would you order to see determine how much iron is stored in the liver or in the plasma?
- Liver: ferritin
- Plasma: transferrin
After 120 days of circulation the RBC is most likely to rupture where?
- in the trabecular network of the spleen.
- cells get fragile because their membrane lipids are decreased rendering them more susceptible for rupture in tight spots.
What happens to the contents of RBC’s after rupture?
- hgb is phagocytized by mfs (kuppfer, spleen, and bone marrow)
- mfs release iron from hgb and pass it back into the blood where its carried by TRANSFERRIN to either:
- bone marrow (new RBC)
- liver (storage in form of FERRITIN)
-porphyrin portion of hgb is converted to bilirubin which is released into the blood and later removed by secretion through the liver into the bile.
What is direct and indirect bilirubin?
direct= conjugated= plasma soluble (secreted in urine)
indirect=unconjugated=not plasma soluble, builds up in system resulting in jaundice.
What two hemoglobinopathies cause RBC hemolysis?
- abnormal substitution of an Amino Acid in the hgb molecule (valine for glutamic acid) (sickle cell anemia)
- defective synthesis of one of the polypeptide chains of hgb (thalassemias)
Sickle Cell Disease
- results from what?
- how do we acquire this disease?
- how might this disease manifest?
- affects what population most?
- point mutation in beta chain of hgb molecule, abnormal substitution of a single amino acid valine for glutamic acid.
- genetics; recessive inheritance
-sickle cell trait: heterozygous
or
-sickle cell disease: homozygous (2 HbS genes)
*concentration of HbS correlates with risk for sickling.
*person w/ sickle cell trait who has less HbS has little tendency to sickle except during severe hypoxia and is virtually asymptomatic.
-african americans
Pathophysiology of Sickle Cell Disease
- at low O2 HbS sickles, results in formation of elongated crystals inside the RBC. This makes it nearly impossible for RBC to pass through many small capillaries, spiked ends of crystals can also rupture membranes leading to sickle cell anemia.
- times of low O2: infection, cold, stress, physical exertion, acidosis
Why is sickle cell so common in africa?
-malaria resisitance
Sickle Cell disease manifestation
- pain and organ failure d/t vessel occlusion
- severe hemolytic anemia
- chronic hyperbilirubinemia (Jaundice)
- acute pain episodes anywhere: bones, joints, chest** (most common cause of mortality)
- infarction
- Acute Chest Syndrome: atypical pneumonia resulting from pulmonary infarction
- painful bone crisis from marrow infarcts of the bones of hands and feet.
- neurologic complications from vessel occlusion: stroke
- spleen damage (more susceptible to encapsulated organisms (streptococcus pneumo., H. Flu B, klebsiella