reticulocyte - immature RBC past nucleated phase.
Sideroblast - ring iron
> 10% ringed sideroblast in bone marrow(???) in sideroblastic anemia?
sideroblastic anemia
- defective heme synthesis, excess iron in cytoplasm
(primary - genetic, secondary - drug, EtOH, neoplasia)
too many washed out RBC? anemia, hypochromic
spectrin spherocytosis - no pale inside, just sphere
target cell
Beta-thalassemia, HbC disease, Asplenia, liver dz
abundant space between cells - anemia
variation in sizes in RBC - poikilocytosis
Poikilocytosis refers to the presence in the blood of poikilocytes. Poikilocytes are abnormally shaped red blood cells as seen on a blood film. Rather than being seen as a sign of any one disease, poikilocytosis is a rather general condition. There may, however be a predominance of one particular type of abnormally shaped red cells, some of which may indicate possible presence of a specific disease or disorder. [1]Normal red blood cells are round, flattened disks that are thinner in the middle than at the edges, whereas a poikilocyte may a distortion of that normal shape, or an entirely different shape. Generally, poikilocytosis can refer to an increase in abnormal red blood cells of any shape where they make up 10% or more of the total population.
Anisocytosis is a medical term meaning that a patient's red blood cells are of unequal size. This is found in anemia and other blood conditions. False diagnostic flagging may be triggered by an elevated WBC count, agglutinated RBCs, RBC fragments, Giant Platelets or Platelet clumps.
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The red blood cell distribution width, or RDW, is a measure of the variation of red blood cell width that is reported as part of a standard complete blood count. Usually red blood cells are a standard size. Certain disorders, however, cause a significant variation in cell size. Higher RDW values indicate greater variation in size. Normal range in human red blood cells is 11 - 15%. If anemia is observed, RDW test results are often used together with MCV results to figure out what the cause of the anemia might be. It is mainly used to differentiate between iron deficiency anemia, in which RDW is elevated, and other microcytic anemias. It may denote hereditary spherocytosis. An elevated RDW, i.e. red blood cells of unequal sizes, is known as anisocytosis.
Mathematically the RDW is calculated with the following formula:
- RDW = (Standard deviation of red cell width ÷ mean cell width) × 100
The sickle cell solubility test is a widely used screening method for sickle cell anemia. The sickle cell solubility test relies on the relative insolubility of Hgb S in concentrated phosphate buffers compared to Hgb A and other Hgb variants. Hgb S precipitates causing a cloudy solution.
- not very specific
