UAMS HEMATOLOGY LAB FINAL
EXAM 2025 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
What is the smear prep process? - ....ANSWER ...-Place drop of blood from EDTA tube
on with 1/2 inch from the frosted end of a slide. Lay the slide on a flat surface. Place the end of
a second (spreader) slide, held with the fingertips at an angle of 30-45 degrees, in front of the
drop of blood. Pull the spreader slide back into the drop of blood. Allow blood to spread entire
width of slide. Quickly and smoothly push the spreader slide forward.
What tools do you need to prepare a smear? - ....ANSWER ...-Glass slides, blood, cover
slip
What causes a bad smear? - ....ANSWER ...-Dirty slide, jerky motion, pointed feather edge,
angle of the spreader slide too steep, did not allow blood to spread, high level of lipids, unequal
pressure.
What is the coverslip smear used for? - ....ANSWER ...-Used for making bone marrow
preps.
What are the items needed for the Wright's stain? - ....ANSWER ...-Stain: To stain the
RBCs and WBCs
Buffer:
...COPYRIGHT ©️ 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED..... 100% PASS RATE 1
,Methanol:
What are the sources of error when staining a smear? - ....ANSWER ...-Stain or buffer is
too acidic or alkaline, prolonged staining, heparinized blood sample, prolonged rinsing, under-
buffering.
Excessively blue slides may be due to: - ....ANSWER ...-Smear being too thick
Prolonged staining time
Excessively red (pink slides) may be due to: - ....ANSWER ...-Insufficient staining time
Prolonged washing
Precipitated stain on blood smear may be due to: - ....ANSWER ...-Unfiltered wright stain
Wright's stain dried on smear in staining process
Incomplete washing off of greenish sheen
Unleveled staining will cause stain to: - ....ANSWER ...-Run off slide
Smear may be under-stained
Appropriate action for appearance of water artifacts on the smear (appearance of moth water
look to RBCs, refractive blotches on the RBCs, crenation appearance of RBCs) -
....ANSWER ...-Dry slides as quickly as possible
Fix slides with methanol
What is a good area when viewing a blood smear? - ....ANSWER ...-Cells should be
touching each other with minimal overlap.
...COPYRIGHT ©️ 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED..... 100% PASS RATE 2
,How do you perform a WBC estimate? - ....ANSWER ...-Select a good area on slide.
Average the number of white cells in five low power fields. Multiply the average by 200. (One
white cell under low power, 10x, equals approximately 200 WBCs)
How do you check for platelet clumps? - ....ANSWER ...-Check for platelet clumps after
performing WBC estimate. Look at the feather edge or side margins of the smear.
Agglutination of cells or clotting of the blood may be due to: - ....ANSWER ...-Mixing
delay
If you can't get your slide to focus, what are the potential issues? - ....ANSWER ...-The
slide is upside down. A drop of oil wasn't added to the slide. The coarse adjust knob has been
turned too far one way or another.
What is a good area in oil immersion? - ....ANSWER ...-Cells touching with minimal
overlap. Approximately 200 RBCs per oil field.
What do we look at under oil immersion? - ....ANSWER ...-We look at the morphology of
the red blood cells, we identify and differentiate white blood cells, and we observed platelets for
number, size, and morphology.
How do you perform a platelet estimate? - ....ANSWER ...-Average the platelet number in
5 oil fields. Multiply by 20,000.
What will the slide look like if the sample is too old? How old is too old? -
....ANSWER ...-WBCs break up or disintegrate; vacuoles may appear. Platelets begin to
clump. Red cells change size and shaped, especially forming crenation. A sample is too old when
it remains at room temperature for more than 5 hours.
...COPYRIGHT ©️ 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED..... 100% PASS RATE 3
, What is the difference between agglutination and rouleaux? - ....ANSWER ...-Rouleaux are
orderly linear stacks of RBCs, whereas RBC agglutination is formed by grapelike RBC
aggregates.
Describe the microscopic appearance of a well-made, well stained peripheral smear. -
....ANSWER ...-RBC should appear pink, orange to salmon pink
WBC nuclei should be purple to blue
Cytoplasm of neutrophils should be pink to tan with lavendar or lilac granules
Eosinophils should have bright orange refractile granules
Describe the macroscopic appearance of a well-made, well stained smear - ....ANSWER ...-
Pink to purple in color
Contain a smooth feathered edge
The smear should cover two thirds of the area of the slide
RBCs appear gray and WBC are too dark (excessively blue) - ....ANSWER ...-Decrease
Staining Time
Red blood cels too pale or appear red and WBCs are barely visible - ....ANSWER ...-
Increase staining time, decrease rinsing time
Appearance of water artifacts on the smear (appearance of moth eaten to look to RBCs,
refractive blotches on the RBC, crenation appearance of RBCs) - ....ANSWER ...-Dry
slides as quickly as possible or fix slides with methanol
What is the final magnification when using oil power? - ....ANSWER ...-1000x
...COPYRIGHT ©️ 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED..... 100% PASS RATE 4
EXAM 2025 QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
What is the smear prep process? - ....ANSWER ...-Place drop of blood from EDTA tube
on with 1/2 inch from the frosted end of a slide. Lay the slide on a flat surface. Place the end of
a second (spreader) slide, held with the fingertips at an angle of 30-45 degrees, in front of the
drop of blood. Pull the spreader slide back into the drop of blood. Allow blood to spread entire
width of slide. Quickly and smoothly push the spreader slide forward.
What tools do you need to prepare a smear? - ....ANSWER ...-Glass slides, blood, cover
slip
What causes a bad smear? - ....ANSWER ...-Dirty slide, jerky motion, pointed feather edge,
angle of the spreader slide too steep, did not allow blood to spread, high level of lipids, unequal
pressure.
What is the coverslip smear used for? - ....ANSWER ...-Used for making bone marrow
preps.
What are the items needed for the Wright's stain? - ....ANSWER ...-Stain: To stain the
RBCs and WBCs
Buffer:
...COPYRIGHT ©️ 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED..... 100% PASS RATE 1
,Methanol:
What are the sources of error when staining a smear? - ....ANSWER ...-Stain or buffer is
too acidic or alkaline, prolonged staining, heparinized blood sample, prolonged rinsing, under-
buffering.
Excessively blue slides may be due to: - ....ANSWER ...-Smear being too thick
Prolonged staining time
Excessively red (pink slides) may be due to: - ....ANSWER ...-Insufficient staining time
Prolonged washing
Precipitated stain on blood smear may be due to: - ....ANSWER ...-Unfiltered wright stain
Wright's stain dried on smear in staining process
Incomplete washing off of greenish sheen
Unleveled staining will cause stain to: - ....ANSWER ...-Run off slide
Smear may be under-stained
Appropriate action for appearance of water artifacts on the smear (appearance of moth water
look to RBCs, refractive blotches on the RBCs, crenation appearance of RBCs) -
....ANSWER ...-Dry slides as quickly as possible
Fix slides with methanol
What is a good area when viewing a blood smear? - ....ANSWER ...-Cells should be
touching each other with minimal overlap.
...COPYRIGHT ©️ 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED..... 100% PASS RATE 2
,How do you perform a WBC estimate? - ....ANSWER ...-Select a good area on slide.
Average the number of white cells in five low power fields. Multiply the average by 200. (One
white cell under low power, 10x, equals approximately 200 WBCs)
How do you check for platelet clumps? - ....ANSWER ...-Check for platelet clumps after
performing WBC estimate. Look at the feather edge or side margins of the smear.
Agglutination of cells or clotting of the blood may be due to: - ....ANSWER ...-Mixing
delay
If you can't get your slide to focus, what are the potential issues? - ....ANSWER ...-The
slide is upside down. A drop of oil wasn't added to the slide. The coarse adjust knob has been
turned too far one way or another.
What is a good area in oil immersion? - ....ANSWER ...-Cells touching with minimal
overlap. Approximately 200 RBCs per oil field.
What do we look at under oil immersion? - ....ANSWER ...-We look at the morphology of
the red blood cells, we identify and differentiate white blood cells, and we observed platelets for
number, size, and morphology.
How do you perform a platelet estimate? - ....ANSWER ...-Average the platelet number in
5 oil fields. Multiply by 20,000.
What will the slide look like if the sample is too old? How old is too old? -
....ANSWER ...-WBCs break up or disintegrate; vacuoles may appear. Platelets begin to
clump. Red cells change size and shaped, especially forming crenation. A sample is too old when
it remains at room temperature for more than 5 hours.
...COPYRIGHT ©️ 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED..... 100% PASS RATE 3
, What is the difference between agglutination and rouleaux? - ....ANSWER ...-Rouleaux are
orderly linear stacks of RBCs, whereas RBC agglutination is formed by grapelike RBC
aggregates.
Describe the microscopic appearance of a well-made, well stained peripheral smear. -
....ANSWER ...-RBC should appear pink, orange to salmon pink
WBC nuclei should be purple to blue
Cytoplasm of neutrophils should be pink to tan with lavendar or lilac granules
Eosinophils should have bright orange refractile granules
Describe the macroscopic appearance of a well-made, well stained smear - ....ANSWER ...-
Pink to purple in color
Contain a smooth feathered edge
The smear should cover two thirds of the area of the slide
RBCs appear gray and WBC are too dark (excessively blue) - ....ANSWER ...-Decrease
Staining Time
Red blood cels too pale or appear red and WBCs are barely visible - ....ANSWER ...-
Increase staining time, decrease rinsing time
Appearance of water artifacts on the smear (appearance of moth eaten to look to RBCs,
refractive blotches on the RBC, crenation appearance of RBCs) - ....ANSWER ...-Dry
slides as quickly as possible or fix slides with methanol
What is the final magnification when using oil power? - ....ANSWER ...-1000x
...COPYRIGHT ©️ 2025, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED..... 100% PASS RATE 4
