Interpretation
Certain disease states are defined by an absolute increase or decrease in the number of a particular type of cell in the bloodstream. For example:
| Type of Cell | Increase | Decrease |
|---|---|---|
| Red Blood Cells (RBC) | erythrocytosis or polycythemia | anemia or erythroblastopenia |
| White Blood Cells (WBC): | leukocytosis | leukopenia |
| -- lymphocytes | -- lymphocytosis | -- lymphocytopenia |
| -- granulocytes: | -- granulocytosis | -- granulocytopenia or agranulocytosis |
| -- --neutrophils | -- --neutrophilia | -- --neutropenia |
| -- --eosinophils | -- --eosinophilia | -- --eosinopenia |
| -- --basophils | -- --basophilia | -- --basopenia |
| Platelets | thrombocytosis | thrombocytopenia |
| All cell lines | - | pancytopenia |
Many disease states are heralded by changes in the blood count:
- leukocytosis can be a sign of infection.
- thrombocytopenia can result from drug toxicity.
- pancytopenia is generally referred to as the result of decreased production from the bone marrow, and is a common complication of cancer chemotherapy.
Read more about this topic: Complete Blood Count