Macrocytic anemia is a type of anemia in which the red blood cells are larger than their normal volume. The term ‘macrocytic’ is a Greek word meaning ‘large cell’. Macrocytic anemia comes under the morphological classification of anemia; in which anemia is classified according to the size of red blood cells. The size is reflected in the mean corpuscular volume (MCV). […]
Diseases
Pernicious Anemia: Causes, Investigations and Treatment
Pernicious anemia is a type of megaloblastic anemia that occurs when a person’s body is unable to absorb vitamin B12 from their gastrointestinal tract. This results in vitamin B12 deficiency and produces morphologically abnormal (unusually large and immature) red blood cells known as megaloblasts. It is also known as Biermer’s anemia, Addison’s anemia, or Addison-Biermer […]
Megaloblastic Anemia – Causes, Pathophysiology, Investigations and Treatment
Megaloblastic anemia is a type of anemia which is characterized by morphologically abnormal (unusually large and immature) red blood cells known as megaloblasts. Causes of Megaloblastic Anemia Megaloblastic anemia has several different causes – deficiencies of either cobalamin (vitamin B12) or folate (vitamin B 9) are the two most common causes. These vitamins play an […]
Bone marrow – Structure, Composition and Functions
Bone marrow is soft, spongy, gelatinous tissue that fills the centers of bones known as medullary cavities. Bone marrow is highly vascular meaning that it is enriched with blood vessels and capillaries. Each day bone marrow produces hundreds of billions of new blood cells. Bone marrow takes over from the liver as the major hematopoietic organ […]
Aplastic Anemia – Classification, Treatment and Prognosis
Aplastic anemia is a rare hematological (blood) disorder in which the bone marrow is damaged resulting in failure to produce all the three major types of blood cells. Bone marrow is a sponge-like tissue inside the bones that makes stem cells that develop into red blood cells (RBCs), white blood cells (WBCs), and platelets. Read […]
Five Types of Diabetes, Not Two, Says New Study
There are five types of diabetes in adults which have different physiological and genetic profiles. This has been suggested by a new research by Scandinavian researchers. The study gathered data on 15,000 patients from across five cohorts in Sweden and Finland and identified five clusters of patients with diabetes using six types of measurements. The […]
Dressler Syndrome Presentation and Treatment
Dressler syndrome is a delayed immune-mediated or secondary pericarditis developing weeks to months after a myocardial infarction characterized by pleuritic chest pain, low-grade fever, and pericarditis. It is also called post-myocardial infarction syndrome. Earlier the syndrome was quite common but the incidence has decreased owing to better reperfusion. This syndrome is now considered under the group postpericardiotomy syndrome which is […]
What is a Capillary Blood Sample
A capillary blood sample is collected by pricking the skin. Capillaries are small vessels formed by branching of arterioles. Blood flows from the heart to arteries, which divide into arterioles, and then further divide into capillaries. After the tissue has been perfused, capillaries then unite to become venules and then widen more to become veins, […]
Blood Sample Handling and Processing
After taking a blood sample, the blood needs to be managed in a proper way so as to prepare it for investigations. Blood sample handling and processing can be summarized as below. Read more about Blood Sampling or Blood Collection Methods Read more about Phlebotomy- Indications, Procedure, and Complications Read more about Vacutainer ® and […]
Peripheral Blood Smear Procedure and Interpretation
Peripheral blood film or Peripheral blood smear or Peripheral smear examination forms an important and basic lab investigation for diagnosing a number of hematological (blood) disorders. With the advent of hematological automated machines, complete and highly accurate hematological data and parameters like complete blood count or CBC can be obtained within a few minutes. In […]