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EDTA-dependent agglutination. In some individuals, clinically insignificant antibodies may cause in vitro agglutination of platelets. As a result of platelet clumping, platelet counts reported by automated counters may be much lower than the actual count in the blood because these devices cannot differentiate platelet clumps from individual cells.
Giant platelet disorder; Two giant platelets (stained purple) are visible in this image from a light microscope (40×) from a peripheral blood smear surrounded by red blood cells. One normal platelet can be seen in the upper left side of the image (purple) and is significantly smaller in size than the red blood cells (stained pink). Specialty ...
Anisocytosis is a medical term meaning that a patient's red blood cells are of unequal size. This is commonly found in anemia and other blood conditions. False diagnostic flagging may be triggered on a complete blood count by an elevated WBC count, agglutinated RBCs, RBC fragments, giant platelets or platelet clumps due to anisocytosis.
Rouleaux formation on wet smear. Rouleaux (singular is rouleau) are stacks or aggregations of red blood cells (RBCs) that form because of the unique discoid shape of the cells in vertebrates. The flat surface of the discoid RBCs gives them a large surface area to make contact with and stick to each other; thus forming a rouleau.
Low levels of platelets in turn may lead to prolonged or excessive bleeding. It is the most common coagulation disorder among intensive care patients and is seen in a fifth of medical patients and a third of surgical patients. [3] A normal human platelet count ranges from 150,000 to 450,000 platelets/microliter (μL) of blood. [4]
Platelet clumps in a blood smear. Platelet aggregation begins minutes after activation, and occurs as a result of turning on the GPIIb/IIIa receptor, allowing these receptors to bind with vWF or fibrinogen. [5] Each platelet has around 60,000 of these receptors. [31]
High platelet counts can occur in patients with polycythemia vera (high red blood cell counts), and is an additional risk factor for complications. [ citation needed ] A very small number of people report symptoms of erythromelalgia , a burning sensation and redness of the extremities that resolves with cooling, or aspirin or both.
The bone marrow produces the cellular elements of the blood, including platelets, red blood cells and white blood cells. While much information can be gleaned by testing the blood itself (drawn from a vein by phlebotomy ), it is sometimes necessary to examine the source of the blood cells in the bone marrow to obtain more information on ...