REC BLOOD CELL ABNORMALITIES IN MORPHOLOGY PART 2

• They are red blood cells with abnormal cell membranes that cause them to appear "spiked" or like a sea urchin.

  ECHINOCYTES
• They are red blood cells with abnormal cell membranes

  ECHINOCYTES
• also called Burr cells

  ECHINOCYTES
• short, evenly spaced projections


  ECHINOCYTES
• This condition is reversible, and more often than not, it

  is a side effect of the EDTA anticoagulant coating in the vacutainer used to collect to blood to prevent it from clotting.

  ECHINOCYTES
• also referred to as drepanocytes, are  formed as a result of the presence of hemoglobin  S in the red cell.

  Sickle cells
• Sickle cells: As the red cell ages, it becomes _ as it passes  through the _ atmosphere of  the small _ in the body. 

  rigid

  low oxygen tension

  capillaries
• In the absence of oxygen, hemoglobin S  polymerizes into rods, causing the sickle cell  shape
• The shape of sickle cells can vary from  cigar-shaped, as shown in the upper image, to the  more severe sickled form
• group of genetic blood disorders

  Sickle cell disease
• most common type of sickle cell disease

  Sickle cell anemia
• Oxygen-carrying hemoglobin found in red blood cells

  is abnormal and misshapen, resulting in the rigid sickled red

  blood cells.
• The genetics behind sickle cell disease results when an

  individual inherits two abnormal copies of the hemoglobin

  gene on chromosome 11, one from each parent.
• Sickle cell disease is an _ disease.

  autosomal recessive
• _ is simply when an individual inherits just one copy of the abnormal hemoglobin gene from one parent.

  Sickle cell trait
• Sickle cell trait is simply when an individual inherits just one copy of the abnormal hemoglobin gene from one parent. Such an individual is referred to as a _, even if asymptomatic, and may pass the abnormal gene on to their own offspring.

  carrier
• have some protective advantage against malaria

  sickle cell trait
• the frequencies of _ are high in malaria-endemic areas

  sickel cell carriers
• results in pain, anemia, edema, organ

  problems or failure, infections, and can also lead to stroke

  due to clogging up of the blood vessels with the sickled

  cells.

  Sickle cell crisis
• A shortened life span may occur in individuals with

  sickle cell disease
• A shortened life span may occur in individuals with sickle

  cell disease. A few examples of things that can trigger an

  attack include

  changes in temperature

  travelling to high altitude

  dehydration

  stress
• “Horn cells”


  KERATOCYTE
• are erythrocytes with a blister-like vesicle,

  which may rupture, leaving a “bite-shaped” defect in the

  cell outline or one or two horn-like projections on the

  same side of the cell. This process may occur more than

  once for a given cell, resulting in very irregular shapes.

  Keratocytes
• are formed when the nucleus is removed by the spleen.

  Keratinocytes
• Helmet cells

  schistocytes
• fragmented red blood cells

  schistocytes
• The presence of schistocytes (fragmented red  blood cells) on the peripheral blood smear  suggests _ from damaged  _ and is a characteristic feature of _

  red blood cell injury

  endothelium

  microangiopathic hemolytic anemia
• are erythrocytes which have  assumed the form of a sphere rather than the  normal discoid shape

  Spherocytes
• hey appear on  routine blood films as cells that are smaller and  more dense than normal red blood cells of the  species

  Spherocytes
• have a reduced area of central  pallor

  Spherocytes
• when RBC's are arranged in rows like  "stacked coins" due to an increase in proteins.


  Rouleaux 
• Rouleaux is when RBC's are arranged in rows like  "stacked coins" due to an increase in

  protein
• The stacking of cells (rouleaux formation) facilitates  the _, a phenomenon that  may be seen on a _.

  rate of red cell sedimentation

  peripheral smear
• When rouleaux formation is truly  present, it is caused by an increase in cathodal proteins,  such as immunoglobulins and fibrinogen
• The appearance of rouleaux may be artificially caused by a poor preparation of the smear or by viewing the slide in a

  thickened area