Re: accuracy of CBC lab equipment--very confused

From: Marla
Date: 1/3/2004
Time: 3:45:00 AM
Remote Name: 66.81.166.70

Comments

Hi Becca:

Sorry to hear that you had to visit ER on new years day. Ack!

As far as the lab variances, they do happen. I've had that happen to me a couple times early on in my transfusion days. First off, it's not impossible for your platelets to have improved or hovered. Hopefully it did, and that would be great! I don't know why you were in ER, but did you have anything given to you like steriods? That sometimes boosts blood counts including platelets.

As far as the white count, I was told that white cells tend to line the tissues, and "sometimes" they move out of the tissues and get into the blood sample. (That's what I was told when that happened to me). Different things can cause that to happen such as a tourniquet that's too tight or on too long. An infection or steroids can also elevate white cell readings.

A hematocrit of 25.3 and 26 is not that different. A "hemoglobin" of 15 to 16 is more significant. That would be a whole unit increase. Personally, I prefer going by the hemoglobin because the hemoglobin is an indication of the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. The hematocrit is a measure of the volume of red cells to plasma which can be affected by the size of your red cells. If you have large red cells, then the hematocrit may appear higher. If your red cells are small, then the hematocrit could appear lower. Both do not indicate hemoglobin content of the cells. The hematocrit can be generally figured by multiplying the hemoglobin 3x. So as an example, a hematocrit of 25.3 would equal roughly a hemoglobin of 8.4 and a hematocrit of 26 equals roughly a hemoglobin of 8.7. I'm not saying that your body didn't make more red cells, but that the percent difference with the hemoglobin is about 3.6% which can be a variance with the machines. Did they transfuse you at 8.7? I used to get transfused only if I fell below a hgb of 8.

But, I think we can only speculate at this time. It is possible that your counts are improving, though. I'm not trying to explain any improvements away! Just keep in mind that these CBCs are just guidelines. How you *feel* should be considered. There's also the idea that our blood counts fluctuate a little throughout the day. I was told that you could take a blood sample from the same tube, run them on the same machine, and still could come out with *slightly* different results. I think the best thing to do is wait for your next CBC to see how you're doing. It's the overall trend that's more reliable rather than just two CBCs.

Take care,

Marla