HAEMATOLOGICAL INDICES

Ms. Ruth Takyi (MLS)

1 BSc, MPhil
 OBJECTIVES
 Introduction to Haematological indices

 To define platelet indices

 To describe the application of Platelet indices in

diagnosing various disorders

 To define and calculate the RBC indices

 To describe the application of RBC indices in diagnosing

various disorders
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 INTRODUCTION
 Haematological indices are part of the full blood count
test report

 It plays vital role in diagnosing disease conditions such

as anaemia

 It is comparatively a simple, inexpensive and practical

severity markers for disease conditions

 It can be grouped into the Red blood cell indices and the
Platelet indices
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 INTRODUCTION
 Red blood indices remain the most popular among the
haematological indices

 The red blood cell indices consist of MCV, MCH,

MCHC

 These values can be calculated when the values of

Haemoglobin, haematocrit and red blood cell count are
known

 Less commonly are the platelet indices

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 PLATELET INDICES
 Platelet indices are potentially useful markers for the early
diagnosis of thromboembolic diseases

 These consists of:

 Plateletcrit (PCT)
 Platelet distribution width (PDW)
 Mean platelet volume (MPV)

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 PLATELETCRIT (PCT)
 Plateletcrit is an effective screening tool for detecting
platelet quantitative abnormalities

 Normal platelet count has a Plateletcrit within the range of

0.20 to 0.36%

 Sensitivity and specificity for detection of

Thrombocytopenia and Thrombocytosis

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 PLATELETCRIT (PCT)
PCT is also called platelet mass and is the volume
occupied by platelets in the blood as a percentage

And it is calculated according to the formula

 PCT = (PLT × MPV)
10,000

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 MEAN PLATELET VOLUME (MPV)
 MPV is the average size of platelets found in blood and is
typically included in blood tests as part of the FBC

 A high MPV simply means your platelets are larger than

average

 It is a sign that you are producing too many platelets

 Larger platelets are usually young and more recently

released into the bloodstream

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MEAN PLATELET VOLUME (MPV)
 When total platelet count is low and MPV values are high,
it suggest that bone marrow is rapidly producing platelets

 Increased MPV is also associated with platelet activation,

which can happen when platelets encounter tumor by-
products

 It suggests increased platelet production (reduced survival

rate) which could be associated with several types of
cancers

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MEAN PLATELET VOLUME (MPV)
 A Low MPV means platelets are smaller than the
average

 Smaller platelets tend to be older, so a low MPV could

mean your bone marrow is not producing enough new
ones

 In the case of ineffective platelet formation in the bone

marrow, as their size is smaller then there is low MPV

 MPV is very useful in inflammatory bowel disease,

cytotoxic drugs, aplastic anaemia etc
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 PLATELET DISTRIBUTION
WIDTH (PDW)
 PDW reflects variability in platelet sizes and is considered a
specific marker of activation

 An increase means there is great variability in sizes (platelets

anisocytosis)

 This maybe associated with vascular (blood vessel) disease or

certain cancers

 PDW has been receiving attention due to its usefulness for

distinguishing between reactive thrombocytosis and
thrombocytosis associated with the myeloproliferative disorder.

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 RBC INDICES
 They are used to help diagnose and classify anaemia

 It is a quantitative measurement of red blood cell, the

amount and concentration of haemoglobin in them

 They were first introduced by Wintrobe in 1929 to define

the size and the haemoglobin content of red blood cells

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 RBC INDICES
 The indices include:

 Average red blood cell size (MCV)

 Haemoglobin amount per red blood cell (MCH)

 The amount hemoglobin per unit volume (MCHC)

 It is a measure of variability of erythrocyte size (RDW)

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 RBC INDICES
 The indices suggest how the RBCs appear
microscopically and provide significant information

 Laboratory professionals correlate the indices with

HCT, Hb and RBC count to ensure that technical
problems are identified when they occur

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 MEAN CELL VOLUME
MCV (fl) = Hct (l/l) X 10
RBC (1012/l)

Normocytic : 80-100 fl
Microcytic < 80 fl
Macrocytic >100 fl

A femtolitre (fl) is 10-15 of a litre

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 MEAN CELL HAEMOGLOBIN
 It is the measurement of the average weight (in picogram) of
haemoglobin in individual erythrocytes. It is calculated by

MCH = Hb (g/dl) X10

RBC (1012/l)

 MCH varies in direct linear relationship with the MCV

 Cells with less volume contain less Hb and vice versa
 Normal value for MCH is 28 to 34pg

 A picogram (pg) is 10-12 of a gram

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 MEAN CELL HAEMOGLOBIN
MCH increase MCH decrease

B12 deficiency Iron deficiency anaemia

Folic acid deficiency Thalassaemia

Reticulocyte Anaemia of chronic

disorder
Hemolytic anaemia

Alcholism

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 MEAN CELL HAEMOGLOBIN
CONCENTRATION
 It is the average concentration of haemoglobin in a
deciliter of erythrocytes expressed in g/dl
 It is the ratio of haemoglobin mass to volume in which it
is contained

MCHC = Hb (g/dl) X100

HCT (l/l)
Normochromic 32-36g/dl

 If using g/dl divide the g/l figure by 10

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 MEAN CELL HAEMOGLOBIN
CONCENTRATION
 Hypochromic: if the area of central pallor is >1/3rd of the
cell size

 Hyperchromic the only erythrocyte that is hyperchromic

with MCHC >36g/dl is the spherocyte

 Apparent hyperchromasia (high MCHC) is usually due to

artifactual increase in haemoglobin result, due to
haemolysis, lipaemia or large numbers of heinz bodies

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 RULE OF THREE
 One should interprets accuracy of RBC count,
haematocrit and haemoglobin value using the quick
formula called the RULE OF THREE

RBC count X 3 = haemoglobin X 3 = haematocrit (%)

If error >3% of the measured value, a measurement error

or instrument malfunction suspected

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 ASSIGNMENT
The packed cell volume (PCV) is also referred to as
Haematocrit (HCT). However, they are not necessarily the
same.
Briefly explain the difference between PCV and HCT
(your answer should not be more than one(1) page)

Submission: Next face-face meeting ( 20th June, 2022; 21st

June, 2022 & 27th June, 2022)

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 THANK YOU

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