blood smear
Overview
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- look in monolayer region, red cells not overlapping but almost touching
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Terminology
- background: not significant
- trace: not totally confident real finding
- 1+ first step with confidence abnormal
- 4+ most ever seen
RBC
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- anisocytosis: varied size
- poikilocytosis: varied shape
AIHA
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- spherocytosis, AIHA
- reticulocytosis: slightly larger and darker, multiple RBC size/colors
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- Direct: patient RBC, patient antibody
- Indirect: patient antibody only. React with transfused RBC
Examples
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- IDA
- RBC should be size of lymphocyte nucleus, smaller here
- over-represented central pallor
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- tear drop cells, dacrocytes
- evidence of marrow invasion
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WBC
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- different white cells
- CML: varying maturation, whole spectrum of maturation
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- blasts, high nucleus to cytoplasm ratio
- ALL
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