intro to haem (RBCs) Flashcards
(23 cards)
What is venepunture?
Process of taking venous blood
What test are performed on the bone marrow?
Bone marrow aspiration, trephine procedure
What are the 4 key areas of haem?
Blood film, FBC, haemostasis, haematinics
What does a peripheral blood film include?
Detection of abnormal cells and RBC distribution
Review of RBC and platelet morphology
What dyes are used in peripheral blood smear?
Methlene blue, Azure B, and Eosin Y
What is pallor?
The concaveness of RBC
What is anisocytosis?
Variation in red cell size
What is microcytosis? Example of potential problem
RBCs are smaller than normal
Iron deficiency
What is macrocytosis? Example of potential problem
RBCs are larger than normal
Alcohol, pregnancy, vit. B12 def
What is poikilocytosis?
Nonspecific variation in shape of RBC
What severe anaemia presents marked poikilocytosis?
Severe thalassemia
What is polychromasia?
Refers to bluish tinge associated with immature RBC
What does hypochromic mean?
Cells contains less Hb than normal
Result of decreased/impaired Hb synthesis
What does hyperchromic mean?
Loss of central pallor
Rare, spherocytes of hereditary spherocytosis or immune-mediated anaemia
What are polychromatophilic RBC (reticulocytes)?
Immature RBCs
Larger than normal RBCs, bluish tinge caused by residual RNA
What are the 3 polymorphonuclear leukocytes?
Neutrophil, eosinophil, basophil
What are the 2 mononuclear leukocytes?
Monocytes, lymphocyte
What does a low red cell distribution width (RDW) mean?
Minimal anisocytosis
What does a high RDW mean?
Marked anisocytosis
What is haematocrit?
Packed cell volume
How are reticulocyte count examined?
Identified by supravital stain, staining rRNA blue
What are platelets?
Small fragments of cytoplasm of megakaryocyte
What is haemostasis?
The maintenance of blood and clotting regulation
