Unit 3 Flashcards
Anemia is considered to be present if:
- the Hb concentration of the RBCs or the Hct is below the lower limit of the reference range for the individual’s age, gender, and geographical location.
Define anemia
A decrease in the ability of RBCs to carry oxygen to the tissues resulting in hypoxia
Anemia may be a sign of an underlying disorder such as:
- liver disease
- alcohol toxicity
- hypothryroidism
- myelodysplasia
What is the development of anemia related to?
- normal erythrocyte kinetics
Describe how anemia is related to normal erythrocyte kinetics
- the total RBC mass in a daily steady state is the balancing of the number of new erythrocytes produced each day to replace the RBCs that have reached the end of the their life span of 120 days
What can the clinical signs and symptoms of anemia result from?
- Diminished delivery of oxygen to the tissues
- related to the lowered Hb concentration
- clinical signs reflect the rate of reduction of Hb and blood volume
What are common signs and symptoms of anemia
?
- fatigue
- shortness of breath
- skin pallor
- not as common: vertigo, faintness, headache, and heart palpitations
How are anemias classified based on red cell morphology?
- categorizes anemias by the size of the erythrocyte
- Macrocytic, microcytic, normocytic
How are anemia classified based on pathophyslogically?
- Impaired RBC production: insufficient or ineffective erythropoiesis
- Increased RBC destruction: hemolysis
- Blood loss (acute or chronic)
Describe factors that impact HSC or development issues
- aplastic anemia
- myelodysplastic anemia
- malignant metastases
- Acquired—> acute hemorrhage
- inherited —> chronic hemorrhaging
Describe what causes bone marrow damage
- chemicals, radiation
- some drugs
- iron deficiency and thalassemia
Blood loss: RBC membrane defect or enzyme deficiency
Describe infiltration of bone marrow
- Neoplasms
- abnormal Hb molecule
Describe nuclear defect of impaired red cells
- megaloblastic anemia
- blood loss: Antibody reaction, infectious microorganisms, chemical/ drug reaction, and traumatic cell injury
Describe semiquantitative grading of erythrocyte morphology
- erythrocyte changes are commonly reported using the following:
—> descriptive terms, such as few, moderate, or marked
—> grades on a numerical scale such as: 1+, 2+, 3+ …
—> 1+ = slight to few
—> 2+ = moderate
—> 3+/4+ = marked
Describe laboratory assessment of Anemia
- Clinical signs and symptoms
- CBC wire differential, RBC indices and morphology, reticulocyte count
- Hb decreased: males = <13.0 g/dL and females <12 g/dL
- Classification by RBC indices
What would it mean if the patient has low MCV, low MCHC, is microcytic and hypochromic?
- typical of matural defects:
- iron deficiency anemia
- Thalassemia
- Sideroblastic anemia
What would it mean if the patient has Normal MCH, normal MCHC, is normocytic and normochromic?
- typical of hypoproliferation
- Bone marrow disorder
- iron deficiency anemia
- autoimmune disease
What would it mean if the patient had High MCV or macrocytic?
- typical of maturation defects
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- folate deficiency
- excessive alcohol ingestion
- hypothyroidism
What are additional assessments of anemia?
- RBC indices
- The red cell histogram
- Red cell distribution width (RDW) or red cell morphology index (RCMI)
- PB smear evaluation
- Reticulocyte count
- BM examination
What is the supplementary testing for Normal MCH and MCHC?
- serum iron
- Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC)
- Ferritin
What supplementary testing is performed on decrease MCV and MCHC?
- Serum ion
- total-iron binding capacity (TIBC)
- ferritin
What supplementary testing is performed when MCV is increased?
- serum vitamin B12
- Serum folic acid
Describe bone marrow examination for anemias
- may be performed if properly indicated and may reveal an abnormal ratio of leukocytes to erythrocytes using the myeloid:erythroid (M:E) ratio
Describe Hb F concentration testing of anemia
To evaluate possible hemoglobinopathies and thalassemias