Haematology - Laboratory Haematology

Question 1

What are the components of blood?

Answer 1

RBC, WBC, platelets, plasma (water, proteins, nutrients). Slide 15

Question 2

Once cells have been removed from centrifuged blood, what is can be found in the plasma?

Answer 2

D-dimers
Fibrinogen
Coagulation Screen
Plasma Viscosity. Slide 18

Question 3

What do developing red cells in the bone marrow need?

Answer 3

As they still have a nucleus they need vitamines B12 and folate for the maturation of the nucleus before removal. Slide 21

Question 4

What are some changes in cells you should look for?

Answer 4

Numbers (high or low)

Appearances (morphology). Slide 22

Question 5

What does low Hb suggest?

Answer 5

Anaemia. Slide 23

Question 6

What is MCV and what are the 3 classifications of anaemia based on the MCV?

Answer 6

MCV = Mean cellular volume
Microcytic - smaller
Macrocytic - larger
Normocytic - normal. Slide 23+25

Question 7

What are the reasons for microcytic anaemia?

Answer 7

Iron deficiency e.g. chronic blood loss.

Slide 25

Question 8

What are the reasons for macrocytic anaemia?

Answer 8

Vit. B12/folate deficiency, alcohol excess, liver disease and hypothyroidism. Slide 25

Question 9

What are the reasons for normocytic anaemia?

Answer 9

Acute blood loss and anaemia of chronic disease e.g. inflammation, infection. Slide 25

Question 10

What are the reasons for anaemic of chronic disease?

Answer 10

Changes in iron supply to developing RBC, proliferation of erythroid cells, production of erythropoietin and life span of RBC. Slide 26

Question 11

What is the terminology for high total WBC?

Answer 11

Leucocytosis. Slide 29

Question 12

What is the terminology for each WBC when the numbers are high?

Answer 12

Neutrophilia, eosinophilia and basophilia.

Lymphocytosis and monocytosis. Slide 29

Question 13

What are causes for high platelets and what is it called?

Answer 13

Thrombocytosis.

Acute or chronic blood loss, inflammation and malignancies. Slide 30

Question 14

What are causes for low platelets and what is it called?

Answer 14

Thombocytopenia.

Liver disease, consumption and trapping by spleen. Slide 31

Question 15

What does the coagulation screen measure?

Answer 15

The time taken to form a fibrin clot along different coagulation pathways in vtiro such as Prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). Slide 40

Question 16

What are d-dimers and what do they mean?

Answer 16

They are a fibrin degradation product so they show fibrinolysis.
This means there is a probability of venous thromboembolism. Slide 42

Question 17

What can plasma viscosity mean?

Answer 17

Reflects the changes in plasma proteins such as fibrinogen and can be found in systemic inflammation. Slide 43