CBC with Intro to Anemia

Question 1

CBC is done with what type of blood? Tub color?

Answer 1

EDTA-anticoagulated whole blood

purple tube

Question 2

What cell types are counted in a CBC?

Answer 2

• white blood cells (WBC)
• Red blood cells (RBC)
• platelets = thrombocytes

Question 3

What are the RBC Indices?

Answer 3

• Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH)
• mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC)
• Red cell distribution width (RDW)

Question 4

What are the components of a CBC?

Answer 4

• WBC count
• Automated differential
• Absolute individual leukocyte counts
• RBC count (RBC)
• Platelet count (PLT)
• Hemoglobin (HGB)
• Hematocrit (HCT)
• Mean corpuscular volume (MCV)
• RBC Indices
• Mean Platelet Volume (MPV)

Question 5

What cell types are included in the leukocyte differential?

Answer 5

• granulocytes
  
  • neutrophils
  • bands
  • immature precursors
• lymphocytes
• monocytes
• eosinophils
• basophils
• other
  
  • blasts
  • unclassified cells

Question 6

What is the difference between the differential cell count vs absolute cell count?

Answer 6

differential is like percentages = relative numbers

absolute WBC are what matter

Question 7

What are the differences between automated vs manual differentials?

Answer 7

• Automated
  
  • count thousands of cells
  • highly accurate with normal WBC
  • no band counts
• Manual
  
  • count 100 cells
  • less accurate than medicine
  • best for abnormal WBC morphology

Question 8

What suffix indicate an increase in WBC?

Answer 8

• cytosis
• philia

Question 9

What suffix indicate an decrease in WBC?

Answer 9

-penia

Question 10

What word means increased platelets?

Answer 10

thrombocytosis (thrombocytothemia)

Question 11

What word means decreased platelets?

Answer 11

thrombocytopenia

Question 12

What word means increased RBCs?

Answer 12

polycythemia

erythrocytosis

Question 13

What word means decreased RBC?

Answer 13

anemia

Question 14

The CBC gives you what value for hemoglobin? It is measured in what units?

Answer 14

total hemoglobin in a given unit of blood (not per cell)

g/dL

Question 15

Hemoglobin value can be artificially changed by what variable? influenced by

Answer 15

improper venipuncture

Question 16

What is hematocrit & how is it measured?

Answer 16

“packed cell volume”

the volume percentage of RBC in whole blood

measured in %

Question 17

What is mean cellular volume & what unit is it measured in?

Answer 17

average size of RBC in a sample of blood

measured in femtoliters

Question 18

What is Mean Cellular Hemoglobin (MCH)& what unit is it measured in?

Answer 18

the weight (mass) of hemoglobin in the average WBC

measured in picograms

Question 18

What numbers determine microcytic, normocytic & macrocytic sizes of RBC?

Answer 18

Question 19

How is Mean Cellular Hemoglobin (MCH) measured?

Answer 19

calculated from the Hgb concentration and the RBC count

Question 20

What is Mean Cellular Hemoglobin Concentration (MCHC) and what units is it measured in?

Answer 20

the concentration of hemoglobin in the average RBC

measured in g/dL

Question 21

How do you calculate Mean cellular hemoglobin concentration?

Answer 21

calculated from the Hgb and Hct

Question 22

How would you describe cells with low MCHC?

Answer 22

hypochromic cells; increased central pallor on smear

Question 23

What information does the Red Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW) tell you?

Answer 23

measure of variation in size of the erythrocytes in a sample

the higher the RDW, the more variation in RBC size

Question 24

What are the 2 ways to measure RDW?

Answer 24

1. RDW standard deviation (RDW-SD), reported in fL 2. RDW coefficient of variation (RDW-CV), reported in %

Question 25

What is the mean platelet volume (MPV) and what unit is it measured in?

Answer 25

measure of the average size of the platelets; indirect measure of the “age” of platelets fL

Question 26

MPV is analogous to what erythrocyte measurement?

Answer 26

MCV

Question 27

What is the difference between absolute anemia & relative anemia?

Answer 27

* absolute anemia (true) * decreased red blood cell mass * relative anemia * due to increased plasma volume

Question 28

What types of situations create relative anemia?

Answer 28

pregnancy excessive hydration macroglobinemia

Question 29

What are the universal signs of anemia regardless of the type?

Answer 29

pale shortness of breath heart palpitations weakness

Question 30

What are the 3 general causes of anemia?

Answer 30

**blood loss** (acute or chronic) **red blood cell destruction** (intracorpuscular or extracorpuscular) **insufficient production** (nutritional deficiency or bone marrow suppression)

Question 31

What are iron disorders that cause anemia? What kind of anemia?

Answer 31

**microcytic hypochromic anemia** iron deficiency chronic disease neoplasia

Question 32

Other than disorders of iron metabolism, what are the other three causes of microcytic hypochromic anemia?

Answer 32

**disorders of heme synthesis** (sideroblastic anemia) **disorders of globin synthesis** (thalassemia) **fragmentation hemolysis**

Question 33

What are the causes of macrocytic anemia with normal RDW?

Answer 33

myelodysplastic neoplasms aplastic anemia

Question 34

What are the causes of macrocytic anemia with high RDW?

Answer 34

folate, vitamin B₁₂, or copper deficiency medication effect alcohol abuse liver disease hypothyroidism autoimmune hemolytic anemia

Question 35

What are the causes of macrocytic anemia with high RDW?

Answer 35

folate, vitamin B₁₂, or copper deficiency medication effect alcohol abuse liver disease hypothyroidism autoimmune hemolytic anemia

Question 36

Spherocytes are most commonly seen in what type of anemia?

Answer 36

hemolytic anemias

Question 37

Schistocytes are most commonly seen in what type of anemia?

Answer 37

microangiopathic hemolytic anemia

Question 38

What are the terms to indicate if the bone marrow is producing immature red blood cells & if this is related to anemia?

Answer 38

**hyperproliferative** (hemolytic anemia) **hypoproliferative** (chronic disease)

Question 39

What is the term for variation in size of red blood cells?

Answer 39

anisocytosis

Question 40

What is the term for variation in shape of red blood cells?

Answer 40

poikilocytosis

Question 41

What is the term for variation in size & shape of red blood cells?

Answer 41

anisopoikilocytosis