Introduction of Hematology

Department of Hematology
 Hematology
• Is a branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis,
treatment and prevention of disease related to blood
Blood
• About 8% of body weight (45% formed elements and 55% plasma)
• Formed elements
• Erythrocytes - RBCs
• Leukocytes - WBCs
• Thrombocytes - Platelets
• Plasma
• 90 % water
• 10% solutes (Plasma proteins; 58% Albumin, 38% Globulins and 4%
fibrinogen)
• Plasma vs Serum
Development of Hematopoietic system
• 3 anatomic stages
• Mesoblastic (in extra-embryonic structure – yolk sac)
• Hepatic
• Myeloid
The Red Cells
• Average life span – 120 days
• Cleared by RES (Liver & spleen)
• Homeostasis (daily loss = daily production)
• Types of Hb
• Embryonic (Gower – 1, Gower – 2, Portland)
• Fetal (HbF)
• Adult (Hb A & A2)
White Blood Cells
• Also known as leucocytes or leukocytes
• These are the cells of the immune system of our body that are
involved in protecting the body against both infections and foreign
invaders
• Leucocytes are produced in bone marrow, from multipotent cells
• Leucocytes have nuclei which distinguishes them from RBCs and
Platelets (both of these cells are anucleated)
• Normal WBCs is 4 – 11 x 1000/μL
 Types of WBCs

Neutrophils
Granulocytes Eosinophils
Basophils

• WBC Monocytes
1. Macrophages
2. Dendritic cells

Agranulocytes
Lymphocytes 1. B cells (plasma cells & memory B cells)
(or Lymphoid 2. T cells (helper T cells, memory T cells & cytotoxic T cells)
cells) 3. Natural Killer cells
Type of cells % of WBCs Functions

Neutrophils 60 – 70 % Bacterial & Fungal infections

Eosinophils Upto 5 % Inflammatory reaction

Basophils 1–2% Parasitic, allergic & inflammatory

Monocytes 1–9% Phagocytosis in tissues

Lymphocytes Upto 30% B cells – antibodies production and assist activation of T cells
T helper cells – activate and regulate T and B cells
Cytotoxic T cells – virus infected & tumor cells
NK cells – virus infected & tumor cells
Platelets
• Small and anucleated cells
• Produced from megakaryocytes
• Hemostasis
Lab Investigations
• Complete blood counts (CBC) or Full blood counts (FBC)
• RBC counts (Hb & Hct)
• RBC indices (MCV, MCH, MCHC, RDW)
• TLC & DLC
• Platelet counts
• Peripheral blood smear
• Reticulocyte counts
• Iron studies
• Marrow examination
RBC counts (Hb & Hct)
RBC indices (MCV, MCH, MCHC, RDW)
• MCV (mean corpuscular volume)
• Size of the RBCs
• Femtoliters, fl
• 80 – 100 fl
• MCH (mean corpuscular hemoglobin)
• Amount of Hb per RBC
• Picograms, pg per cell
• 29 ± 2 pg per cell
• MCHC (mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration)
• Amount of Hb per unit volume
• Gm/dl
• 34 ± 2 gm/dl
• RDW (red cell distribution width)
• Variation in size of RBCs
• 11.5 – 14.5%
Thanks