QSP Newsletter

QSP Newsletter 40 - Anemia

September 2023

Monthly Digital Case Study
September Slides
Anemia
2023 Medical Device Network Excellence Awards
Quiz
(PDF for print)

Monthly Digital Case Study (QSP Slide 3, September 2023)

FBC Results
WBC 30.53* (10^3/mm3)
RBC  3.95 (10^6/mm3)
HGB 12.2 (g/dL)
HCT 35.7 (%)
MCV 90 (fL)
MCH 30.8 (pg)
MCHC 34.1 (g/dL)                              
PLT 226* (10^3/mm3)
Neutrophils 90%
Lymphocytes  0.0%
Monocytes 6.6%
Eosinophils 0.0%
Basophils    0.0%
Metamyelocytes 3.3%

Clinical Details
Female (68 years old)

Slide Information
Intensive care unit. Flag on the platelet result on analyzer. Lymphopenia. Partially degranulated granular lineage (+). Lymphopenia. Neutrophilia. Neutrophils rather hyposegmented (++), with presence of "band cells"/metamyelocytes. Presence of macroplatelets and some platelet aggregates.

Expert Comments: Myelodysplasia/myeloproliferative syndrome?

Neutrophil_Band_Cell_1

Neutrophil Band Cell

Macroplatelet

Macroplatelet

Neutrophil_Band_Cell_2

Neutrophil Band Cell

Platelet clumping

Platelet clumping

September Slides

Anemia. Leukocytosis. Abnormal lymphocytes flag on the analyzer. Anisoctyosis (++). Dacryocytes (++). Echinocyte (++). Presence of a medium to large sized lymphoid population, with fine chromatin, often irregular nuclei (sometimes nucleoli), and moderately abundant cytoplasm. Some nuclear shadows. Lymphocytes with a lymphomatous aspect (of the marginal lymphoma type?).

Clinical hematology service. Hyperlymphocytosis. Monomorphic hyperlymphocytosis associated with some smudge. Chronic Lymphoid Leukemia/Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma?

See monthly case study above.

Hematology emergency department. Hyperleukocytosis. Anemia. Thrombocytopenia. Lymphopenia. Myelemia. Thrombocytopenia. Aniso-poikilocytosis (++). Elliptocytes/dacryocytes/echinocytes (++). Presence of red blood cell fragments.

No clinical context. Nothing to report.

Anemia. Macrocytic anisocytosis (++). Dacrocytes. Thrombocytopenia. Neutrophilia. Hypogranulated (++) neutrophils. Myelemia + discrete blastosis. Monocytosis.
Context: Myelodysplasia in evolution? 
Expert Comments: Myelodysplasia/myeloproliferative syndrome (CMML?)

 

Anemia

Anemia

Anemia is a condition in which the blood is not carrying sufficient healthy red cells in its circulation, and therefore reduced amounts of hemoglobin carrying oxygen around the body. Anemia maybe defined as a reduced absolute number of circulating red cells, reduced hemoglobin, reduced hematocrit.

Symptoms of anemia can develop slowly, with symptoms being vague and non-specific. Symptoms that may occur first include:

  • Feeling weak or tired more often than usual, or with exercise
  • Headaches
  • Problems concentrating or thinking
  • Irritability
  • Loss of appetite
  • Numbness and tingling of hands and feet

When Anemia is acute, symptoms can include feeling faint and increased thirst. Symptoms of anemia depend on how rapidly the hemoglobin drops and vary depending on the underlying cause. These are usually blood loss, decreased red blood cell production, and/or increased red blood cell breakdown.

The Full Blood Count - first step to diagnosing an anemia:

  • Reduced Hb
  • Reduced MCV

 

In clinical workup, the MCV will be one of the first pieces of information available:

  • Microcytic anemia – MCV < 80fL
  • Normocytic anemia – MCV 80-100fL
  • Macrocytic anemia – MCV >100fL
Anemia_types-causes

Limitations of MCV include cases where the underlying cause may be due to  several factors, such as iron deficiency (a cause of microcytosis) and vitamin B12 deficiency (a cause of macrocytosis) where the net result can be normocytic cells.

In the morphological approach, anemia is classified by the size of red blood cells; this is either done automatically or on microscopic examination of a peripheral blood smear.

The causes of anemia may be classified as impaired red blood cell (RBC) production, increased RBC destruction (hemolytic anemia), blood loss and fluid overload (hypervolemia). Some of  these may interplay to cause anemia. The most common cause of anemia is blood loss, but this usually does not cause any lasting symptoms, unless a relatively impaired RBC production develops, in turn, most commonly by iron deficiency.

See following newsletters for more on specific anemias.

Medical Device Network Excellence Awards 2023 Winner Badge

HORIBA Yumizen hematology analyzers win the 2023 Medical Device Network Excellence Awards

We are proud to announce that our Yumizen hematology analyzers have won the 2023 Medical Device Network Excellence Award in the category for Environmental, Innovation, and Product Launches.

A recently updated compact instrument range, comprising the Yumizen H500 (open and closed tube sampling options) and the Yumizen H550 (autoloading) is a winner in the Innovation and the Product launch categories.

The analyzers are suited to a wide range of environments from small labs to clinics and blood banks. Read more.

Quiz cell image #40

Cell Quiz

What two morphology features can be seen in the slide below?

The answer will be displayed in the next QSP Newsletter and on our social media (LinkedIn / Facebook / Twitter).

QSP_Newsletter__39_Quiz_Cell_Image

Last Month’s Quiz Answer

Can you name this cell?

The Answer:

The cell is a plasma cell. A plasma cell is a fully differentiated, mature lymphocyte of the B-cell lineage, which produces and secretes antibodies.

Bibliography

askhematologist.com/category/anemias/
www.who.int/health-topics/anaemia
Essential Haematology, Hoffbrand & Pettit

Quality Slide Program (QSP) 2.0

Available as a single use license and a site license which allows up to 50 concurrent users.

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