The measurement or quantification of cells suspended in a fluid phase is performed using flow cytometry. Fluorochrome-coupled antibodies specific for a certain cellular marker are used to label the cells. The fluidics chamber enables that cell travel via a laser beam in a single file, exciting the fluorochrome. A detector (photomultiplier) detects the produced light,…
INTRODUCTION Hargraves et al., identified the LE cell phenomena in bone marrow in 1948. Lupus erythromatosus is an autoimmune disease in which autoantibodies attack cell nuclei components. In lupus erythromatosus, antibodies such as LE factor, antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anti double stranded DNA (anti ds DNA), anti single stranded DNA, anti nucleoprotein, and anti nuclear glycoprotein…
During hemostasis, coagulation system development of fibrin clots as a reaction to vascular injury is regulated by the fibrinolytic system breakup of the clot. D- Dimers are one of several fragments formed when plasmin, an enzyme that is activated by the fibrinolytic pathway, cleaves fibrin to break down clots. It consists of two covalently bound…
Till the late 1950s, blood cells were routinely counted manually. In 1956, W. H. Coulter patented a system which used the electrical impedance process, also known as aperture impedance, to count blood cells. This innovation made the blood cell counts production quicker, smoother, and more accessible. The first instruments of hematology conducted only counts of…
Venipuncture is a convenient way to provide a large blood sample that can be used for many various studies. A venipuncture, also called a phlebotomy, is punctured by a hypodermic needle in the superficial vein and blood is drawn into the vacuum tube or syringe. Performing a venipuncture involves several important steps that must be…
The activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT or aPTT) is a coagulation test used to evaluate low-dose heparin therapy and test for the function of hemostasis’ intrinsic and normal pathway. The reagent used to perform the APTT is partial thromboplastin, which is the lipid portion of thromboplastin in the tissue. The partial thromboplastin reagent is manufactured…
Primary immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), commonly known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, is an inflammatory bleeding disorder that affects both adults and infants. Until quite recently, it was considered an autoantibody disorder in which the reticuloendothelial system prematurely removed platelets, which were opsonized with antiplatelet antibody. More recently, findings have shown that there is a significant underproduction…
Pelger-Huët anomaly (PHA), also known as true or congenital PHA, is an autosomal dominant condition marked by reduced nuclear segmentation (bilobed, unilobed) and a distinctive coarse chromatin clumping pattern that can involve any leukocyte, while morphologic differences are more noticeable in mature neutrophils. A mutation in the lamin b-receptor gene is to blame for the…
