Basic Hematology Techniques Flashcards
(20 cards)
Why is blood mixing important? When is it important?
- performed because cells settle
- important before any analysis
How is blood mixing accomplished?
1) manually by gentle inversion
2) using a tilting rack
What is packed cell volume (PCV)? When is it measured?
% erythrocytes in whole blood
- measured after centrifugation (for maximal packing on RBCs)
What does it mean is plasma is red after a PCV?
Severely hemolyzed
What does it mean is plasma is pink after a PCV?
mildly hemolyzed
What does it mean is plasma is yellow after a PCV?
Icteric in dog, cat.
Normal in horse, cow.
What does it mean is plasma is white after a PCV?
lipemic
What is the layer of WBCs called?
Buffy coat
What do refractometers do?
ESTIMATE the concentration of solute in fluid by measuring refraction of light as it passes through solute.
- measured relative to distilled water
What is refractometry used for?
estimate plasma protein concentration
estimate urine specific gravity
Why is protein concentration an estimate?
assumes other solutes in the serum are present in normal concentrations
What are solutes that will interfere with protein concentration during refractometry? (Increase Total protein)
- lipemia: chylomicrons, lipds
- urea
- glucose
- cholesterol
What does it indicate if the PCV and TP are proportionally increased?
patient is dehydrated
What does it mean if the PCV and TP are proportionally decreased?
patient has blood loss
What are two major constituents of the “total protein”?
albumin (ALB), and Globulin (GLOB)
What is Total leukocyte concentration of Total nucleated cell count (TNCC) used for?
used to calculate the concentration of specific leukocyte types
-> requires a differential cell count (% segs, % bands, % lymphs, % monos, % eos)
Stained blood film is an essential tool for what?
1) determining concentration of individual leukocyte types = differential cell count
2) Evaluating morphologic abnormalities of leukocytes, erythrocytes, and platelets
Using the push technique for blood film preparation, what can you do if the animal is anemic?
increase the angle between the two slides
What is located in the feathered edge of a blood smear?
largest cells, platelet clumps, organisms
How do you convert % to absolute count during a systemic blood film evaluation?
multiply the TNCC by the percentage of each leukocyte type to yield the absolute concentration of each type of nucleated cell within the blood sample
