Polychromasia - Embryology

Embryology

The formation of red blood cells is commonly known as hematopoesis. Up to the first 60 days of life, the yolk sac is the main source of hematopoesis. The liver is then used as the main hematopoetic organ of the embryo until near birth, where it is then taken over by the bone marrow. Most red blood cells are released into the blood as reticulocytes. Polychromasia occurs when the immature reticulocytes of the bone marrow are released, resulting in a grayish blue color of the cells. This color is seen because of the ribosomes still left on the immature blood cells, which are not found on mature red blood cells. These cells still contain a nucleus as well due to the early release, which is not needed in mature blood cells because their only function is to carry oxygen in the blood. The life span of a typical red blood cell is acknowledged to be approximately 120 days and the time period of a reticulocyte found in the blood to be one day. The percentage of reticulocytes calculated to be in the blood at any given time indicates the rapidity of the red blood cell turnover in a healthy patient. The number of reticulocytes, however, reflects the amount of erythropoesis that has occurred on any certain day. The absolute number of reticulocytes is referred to as the reticulocyte index and is calculated by adjusting the reticulocyte percentage by the ratio of observed hematocrit to expected hematocrit to get the 'corrected' reticulocyte count.