Articles on Medical Diseases and Conditions

Entries Tagged ‘Red Blood Cell’

Red Blood Cell Membrane Abnormalities

The major conditions in this category are congenital spherocytosis and hereditary elliptocytosis. Also included in this group are the uncommon condition abetalipoproteinemia and the extremely rare hereditary stomatocytosis. Congenital spherocytosis Congenital spherocytosis is one of the more common hereditary hemolytic anemias after the hemoglobinopathies and G-6-PD deficiency. Most patients are English or northern European. About […]

Red Blood Cell Enzyme Deficiencies

These conditions are sometimes called congenital nonspherocytic anemias. The RBC contains many enzymes involved in various metabolic activities. Theoretically any of these may be affected by congenital or possibly by acquired dysfunction. The most frequent congenital abnormalities are associated with enzymes that participate in metabolism of glucose. After glucose is phosphorylated to glucose-6-phosphate by hexokinase, […]

Laboratory Tests in Hemolytic Anemias

Certain laboratory tests are extremely helpful in suggesting or demonstrating the presence of hemolytic anemia. Which tests give abnormal results, and to what degree, depends on the severity of the hemolytic process and possibly on its duration. Reticulocyte count. Reticulocyte counts are nearly always elevated in moderate or severe active hemolytic anemia, with the degree […]

Hypoplastic Marrow

Anemia due to inadequate erythropoiesis without factor deficiency may be classified in several ways. One system is based on the mechanism involved, including (1) marrow failure to incorporate adequate supplies of hematopoietic raw materials (e.g., iron) into red blood cell (RBC) precursors, (2) failure to release mature RBCs from the marrow, or (3) destruction of […]

Red Blood Cell (RBC) Count

The number of RBCs per cubic millimeter gives an indirect estimate of the Hb content of the blood. Manual blood cell counting chamber (hemocytometer) methods give errors of 7%-14% or even more, depending on the experience of the technician. Automatic counting machines reduce this error to about 4%. However, many smaller laboratories do not have […]