WHAT IS COMPLETE HEMATOLOGY? - MEDICINE - 2024

The complete morphological hematology or is an examination for blood components in detail: red cells, white cells and platelets. It is one of the most important studies at the time of diagnosing any disease by the treating physician.

However, the appropriate term would be complete blood count, since hematology refers to science, whereas blood count is the specific and detailed study of characteristics, such as the size, shape and quantity of each of these.

Blood components analyzed in hematology

The basis of the hematological laboratory diagnosis is the complete blood count and the review of the peripheral smear. In complete hematology, the following blood components are analyzed:

1- Í

- Hematocrit

It is responsible for specifically measuring the solid percentage of the blood. It depends directly on the concentration of red blood cells per mm ³.

- VCM

Indicates the mean corpuscular volume of the red blood cells; that is, the average size of each red blood cell.

- HCM

It is the mean corpuscular hemoglobin. It measures the average amount of hemoglobin in each red blood cell.

The concepts of hypochromia (values ​​below the average), normochromia (contained in the average) and hyperchromia (above the average) are derived from it.

- Platelets

Mean platelet volume, platelet distribution width, and variation in platelet volume are measured.

2- R

Refers to the count of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.

- Red blood cells

Called RBC by their initials in English, they provide the count of the mass of red blood cells.

The concentration count of its reference values ​​is between 4.5 and 5 million per mm3 for men, and between 4 and 4.5 million per mm3 for women.

- White blood cells

Identified in the study as WBC for its acronym in English. The analysis is made of the total of white blood cells and the proportion of each of the subtypes of these.

The white series mainly evaluates the amount of each of its cells present per liter (x10 ⁹ / L), and the reference values ​​for leukocytes is 4.5 - 11.5 x10 ⁹ / L.

For the main subtypes, the reference values ​​are between 55% and 70% for neutrophils, and between 17% and 30% for lymphocytes.

- Platelets

It refers to the total platelet mass count.

3- Evaluation of the appearance of plasma and total solids

- Appearance of plasma

Plasma is visually examined under a microscope for evidence of hemolysis, lipemia, and jaundice, conditions that can influence studies performed to measure hemoglobin concentration.

These effects must be taken into account when interpreting the results.

- Total solids

This is an estimate of the total protein in plasma, also called total protein.

Protein in plasma is made up of albumin, globulin, and transferrin, among other elements.

4- Blood smear

A drop of blood is taken and spread on the slide. It is stained with a hematological stain in order to study the following:

- Amount of differential leukocytes

Calculate the proportions of leukocytes in the blood.

- Morphological characteristics of red blood cells

Changes in red blood cells, such as variation in red blood cell shape or size, hemoglobin content, presence of inclusions, or pattern of arrangement are observed.

- Number of leukocytes and morphology

It focuses on studying changes in white blood cells.

- Morphology and platelet count

Changes in the appearance of platelets are observed, including degree of granulation, which is the presence or absence of clumps.

- Infectious agents

The smear is checked for the presence of infectious agents in the plasma.

Hematological studies provide information of great importance to physicians on the function of the bone marrow and are able to give clues or even accurate diagnoses of the presence of a disease; hence the importance of this type of test.

However, hematology tests should always be interpreted in conjunction with the history, clinical symptoms, and any other evidence related to the patient and the case to be treated.

That is, do not make the mistake of analyzing the results in isolation, since there are other factors in addition to the disease that can influence the results of hematology tests.

References

1. National Institute of Health. US National Library of Medicine. Blood smear. Taken from gov
2. Jones, K. Evaluation of cell morphology and introduction to platelet ad White blood cell morpholgy. Taken from us
3. Rapapport, S. (1971). Introduction to hematology. Taken from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
4. University of Minnesota. Introduction to hematology. Clinical Laboratory Science. Taken from ahc.umn.edu
5. (2017). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Taken from en.wikipedia.org