Blood System: Diseases, Laboratory Tests, and Clinical Procedures

A comprehensive vocabulary review of hematologic disorders, laboratory tests, diagnostic procedures, and treatments described in the lecture notes.

Purpura

Multiple pinpoint hemorrhages and accumulation of blood under the skin, producing reddish or bluish discoloration.

Petechiae

Small, pinpoint purple or red spots on the skin resulting from bleeding from capillaries or small arterioles.

Ecchymoses

Larger, blue or purplish bruises that are more extensive than petechiae.

Autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura

A condition resulting from a deficiency of platelets where the body produces an antiplatelet factor that harms its own platelets.

Leukemia

An increase in malignant white blood cells (leukocytes).

Acute myeloid (myelocytic) leukemia (AML)

A leukemia in which immature granulocytes (myeloblasts) predominate, and platelets and erythrocytes are diminished because of bone marrow replacement by myeloblasts.

Mononucleosis

An infectious, viral disease transmitted by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), marked by increased numbers of mononuclear leukocytes and enlarged cervical lymph nodes.

Multiple myeloma

A malignant neoplasm of bone marrow in which malignant plasma cells produce antibodies that destroy bone tissue and lead to osteolytic lesions.

Bence Jones protein

An immunoglobulin fragment found in urine, produced in multiple myeloma.

Antiglobulin (Coombs) test

A test for the presence of antibodies that coat and damage erythrocytes, used in infants of Rh-negative women and patients with autoimmune hemolytic anemia.

Complete blood count (CBC)

Determination of numbers of blood cells, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, and red cell values (MCH, MCV, MCHC).

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)

The speed at which erythrocytes settle out of plasma in a vertical tube under the influence of gravity alone (also called sed rate).

Hematocrit (Hct)

Percentage of erythrocytes in a volume of blood, measured after a sample is spun in a centrifuge.

Hemoglobin test (H, Hg, Hgb, HGB)

Measurement of the total amount of hemoglobin in a sample of peripheral blood.

Platelet count

Number of platelets per cubic millimeter ($\text{mm}^3$) or microliter ($\mu\text{L}$) of blood, normally averaging between $150{,}000$ and $450{,}000\text{ per }\mu\text{L}$.

Prothrombin time (PT)

A test of the ability of blood to clot, measuring clotting factor II made by the liver, used to monitor patients taking anticoagulant drugs.

Red blood cell count (RBC)

Number of erythrocytes per cubic millimeter ($\text{mm}^3$) or microliter ($\mu\text{L}$) of blood, normally $4\text{ million to }6\text{ million per }\mu\text{L}$.

Red blood cell morphology

Microscopic examination of a stained blood smear to determine the shape of individual red cells.

White blood cell count (WBC)

Number of leukocytes per cubic millimeter ($\text{mm}^3$) or microliter ($\mu\text{L}$) of blood, normally averaging between $7000$ and $10{,}000\text{ per }\mu\text{L}$.

White blood cell differential [count]

Percentages of different types of leukocytes (neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes, lymphocytes, and immature cells/bands) in the blood.

Shift to the left

An increase in immature neutrophils in the blood, indicating an infection and reflecting the body's effort to fight it.

Apheresis

Separation of blood into component parts and removal of a select portion from the blood (such as leukapheresis, plateletpheresis, or plasmapheresis).

Blood transfusion

A procedure in which whole blood or cells are taken from a donor and infused into a patient.

Bone marrow biopsy

Microscopic examination of a core of bone marrow removed with a needle.

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

A procedure in which peripheral stem cells from a compatible donor are administered intravenously to a recipient following conditioning to repopulate the bone marrow.