Medaille College
Agassiz Circle
Buffalo, NY

Study Guide-  Erythrocytes A

1. The previous lecture included information on factors that could cause hemolysis to occur.  Based on the readings in Tilley, what effects can hemolysis have on the assessment of nonphysiologic hemoglobin?

2. As erythrocytes mature from stem cells to mature RBCs, what happens to their size?

3. If you see an immature erythrocyte on a blood smear and you think that it might be a prorubricyte, what other characteristics would you expect to see on the smear>

4. How does the body know when to destroy old RBCs?

5. Diagram a typical mature RBC, reticulocyte & metarubricyte.

6. Draw diagrams to illustrate how the following decrease the PCV:

   1. Excess EDTA

   2. Improper mixing

   3. Hemolysis

7. Explain why the following animals may have a PCV outside of the reference range:

   1. Cat that took seven people to restrain to get a blood sample

   2. A flea-infested kitten

   3. A sick cat that hasn't been drinking water

   4. A cat in chronic renal failure

8. Why is it important to learn reference ranges?

9. Heinz bodies...

   1. Consist of what type of hemoglobin?

   2. May be caused by what (list several things)?

   3. May cause hemolytic anemia for what reason?

10. Why don't we count RBCs with a hemacytometer?

11. What does the reticulocyte count tell us?

12. When should reticulocytes be counted?

13. What are special about cat reticulocytes and how does this affect the procedure for counting their retics?