Hematopoiesis and WBC Disorders - SRS Flashcards
(99 cards)
What is the definition of leukemia?
Term coined by Virchow to indicate a malignancy which greatly increases the “Leuko” fraction of the blood, but now also includes aleukemic leukemias
What is a lymphoma?
Solid tumors derived from lymphoid tissue that primarily involve lymph nodes and peripheral organs
What does the category “granulocyte” include? 3
- Neutrophils
- Eosinophils
- basophils
Myeloid disorders (leukemias) involve the precursors of what cell types? 4
- Erythroid
- granulocytic
- monocytic
- megakaryocytes
What are the “so called” myeloid cells?
Granulocytes and monocytes only
As far as Lymph node involvement is concerned, how are low grade and high grade non-hodgkin lymphomas different?
- Low grade: Tend to involve multiple nodes (“matted” nodes)
- High grade: Tend to involve a single node, localized group of nodes or extranodal site
What is the appearance and feel of lymphoma nodes?
Fleshy tan and rubbery firm

What are the two most common stain types for peripheral WBCs?
Wright and Giemsa
In adults, where does myelopoiesis nearly exclusively take place?
Bone marrow
In what portions of the developing fetus does prenatal hematopoiesis occur?
- Yolk sac
- Liver
- spleen
- Bone marrow
Identify the seven cells shown here.

- Band neutrophil
- Platelet
- Eosinophil
- Lymphocyte
- Segmented Neutrophil
- Monocyte
- Basophil

What is a monocyte?
Circulating macrophage or histiocyte precursor
Guess what?

Chicken butt.
Also, some small lymphocytes, small RBCs (spherocytes) and a smudge cell. Smudge cell is probably from an incompetent lab tech, or is just some schmutz.
A bone marrow aspirate is best for?
Illustrating cytology and enumeration of cells
What is a needle core biopsy best for?
Assess cellularity and architecture
What stain should be used on air dried thin smears of blood?
Romanovsky
How is the “manual WBC differential” performed?
Light microscopic examination of a “wright stained” peripheral blood smear and counting 100 white cells.
What is hyper-segmentation?
PMNs with 5 or more lobes
If you see a PMN with 5 or more lobes, what are three situations which can give rise to this type of hyper-segmentation?
- megaloblastic anemias
- myeloproliferative disorders
- chemotherapy
What would you call the increased and prominent azurophilic (primary) granules and cytoplastic vacuoles seen with infections?
Toxic granulation and vacuolization
What is a left shift?
Absolute increase in neutrophils with an increase in bands +/- metamyelocytes or myelocytes- seen in infections and leukemias

What are these cells?
What is the arrow pointing to?
What else is visible in these cells?

Neutrophils, arrow is pointing to Döhle bodies, blue cytoplasmic patches of dilated endoplasmic reticulum
Also see toxic granulations, coarse purple cytoplasmic granules
The relative change in one type of WBC expressed as a % of overall # of WBCs usually doesn’t mean much. What does matter?
What matters for each WBC type is the “absolute’ count or % of total multiplied by the total WBC count; e.g.,
Absolute Neutrophil Count = % Neutrophils X total WBC count
Absolute neutrophils = 46% X 10,000 cell/microliter
= 4,600 neutrophils/uL
What are the normal white cell ranges in adults?
4.8-10.8













