PATH3500
NOV 13: HEMATOLYMPHOID PATHOLOGY 1
Objectives
1. RBCs
a. Describe cellular components of blood, their origins & principal functions
b. Define & discuss symptoms + signs of anemia
c. Explain how anemia’s classified & list common causes of anemia in context of these
classifications
2. WBCs
a. Outline common causes of reactive leukocytosis + neutropenia w/ examples
b. Classify + briefly discuss main groups of white cell malignancies – lymphoid + myeloid
neoplasms, leukemia, as to age groups affected, clinical presentation + prognosis
3. Bleeding disorders
a. Briefly discuss main causes of bleeding disorders
Part 1: Hematopoietic – introduction
- Even though blood’s a fluid structure + not officially an organ, actually one of more most critical
system in body bc every single other organ relies on it
Normal blood cells
- RBC is anucleate (i.e. no nucleus)
o Lighter link inside is hemoglobin (main compound in cell); central pallor
- Platelet, also doesn’t have nucleus
o Chunk of cytoplasm broken off from megakaryocyte in bone marrow
o 2nd most common cell
- Granulocyte
o Granular cytoplasm, i.e. there’s granules present in cytoplasm
o Most common is neutrophil or polymorphic leukocyte
o Eosinophil – red granules
o Basophil – dark blueish granules
- WBC
o Biggest is monocyte w/ pale blue cytoplasm + vacuoles (often doesn’t have any)
▪ Oval or bean-shaped nucleus
o Lymphocytes - most boring looking cells of WBCs but most intelligent bc do important
job
, Cellular components of blood: bone marrow origin
- All prev mentioned are derived from bone marrow; have pluripotent potential stem cells
o w/ greater # of differentiation events, become less able to differentiate until it forms a
committed stem cell (2 main ones, myeloid or lymphoid)
o Lymphoid stem cells form lymphocytes (T-cells, B-cells, NK cells)
o Myeloid stem cells form all other cells
Main functions of blood cells
- Very simple functions
o RBC – transport oxygen in blood + CO2 back from tissues into lungs
o WBC – prevent infection in body + foreign invasion
o Platelets – preserve integrity of blood vessels by forming platelet plugs + participating in
coagulation
How we approach blood cell disorders?
- Either have too many or too little blood cells
o To determine, huge # of people are measured & w/ machine, # of RBCs, WBCs + platelets
are counted
o Then look at huge population of people, take average or range of average + called
‘enough’ of blood cells present (i.e. right amount)
Part 2: RBCS – anemia
Disorders of red cells: anemia
- Anemia = too few RBCS, polycythemia = too many RBCs
o Polycythemia not huge problem in practice; big topic for discussion so will focus on
anemia
- Physically leads to decrease in oxygen-transporting ability of blood due to decreased # (or
function) of circulating RBCs
o What RBCs do, i.e. transport oxygen
- In complete blood count (CBC), anemia’s most commonly determined by decrease in
hemoglobin concentration
NOV 13: HEMATOLYMPHOID PATHOLOGY 1
Objectives
1. RBCs
a. Describe cellular components of blood, their origins & principal functions
b. Define & discuss symptoms + signs of anemia
c. Explain how anemia’s classified & list common causes of anemia in context of these
classifications
2. WBCs
a. Outline common causes of reactive leukocytosis + neutropenia w/ examples
b. Classify + briefly discuss main groups of white cell malignancies – lymphoid + myeloid
neoplasms, leukemia, as to age groups affected, clinical presentation + prognosis
3. Bleeding disorders
a. Briefly discuss main causes of bleeding disorders
Part 1: Hematopoietic – introduction
- Even though blood’s a fluid structure + not officially an organ, actually one of more most critical
system in body bc every single other organ relies on it
Normal blood cells
- RBC is anucleate (i.e. no nucleus)
o Lighter link inside is hemoglobin (main compound in cell); central pallor
- Platelet, also doesn’t have nucleus
o Chunk of cytoplasm broken off from megakaryocyte in bone marrow
o 2nd most common cell
- Granulocyte
o Granular cytoplasm, i.e. there’s granules present in cytoplasm
o Most common is neutrophil or polymorphic leukocyte
o Eosinophil – red granules
o Basophil – dark blueish granules
- WBC
o Biggest is monocyte w/ pale blue cytoplasm + vacuoles (often doesn’t have any)
▪ Oval or bean-shaped nucleus
o Lymphocytes - most boring looking cells of WBCs but most intelligent bc do important
job
, Cellular components of blood: bone marrow origin
- All prev mentioned are derived from bone marrow; have pluripotent potential stem cells
o w/ greater # of differentiation events, become less able to differentiate until it forms a
committed stem cell (2 main ones, myeloid or lymphoid)
o Lymphoid stem cells form lymphocytes (T-cells, B-cells, NK cells)
o Myeloid stem cells form all other cells
Main functions of blood cells
- Very simple functions
o RBC – transport oxygen in blood + CO2 back from tissues into lungs
o WBC – prevent infection in body + foreign invasion
o Platelets – preserve integrity of blood vessels by forming platelet plugs + participating in
coagulation
How we approach blood cell disorders?
- Either have too many or too little blood cells
o To determine, huge # of people are measured & w/ machine, # of RBCs, WBCs + platelets
are counted
o Then look at huge population of people, take average or range of average + called
‘enough’ of blood cells present (i.e. right amount)
Part 2: RBCS – anemia
Disorders of red cells: anemia
- Anemia = too few RBCS, polycythemia = too many RBCs
o Polycythemia not huge problem in practice; big topic for discussion so will focus on
anemia
- Physically leads to decrease in oxygen-transporting ability of blood due to decreased # (or
function) of circulating RBCs
o What RBCs do, i.e. transport oxygen
- In complete blood count (CBC), anemia’s most commonly determined by decrease in
hemoglobin concentration
