An immature red blood cell recently released from the bone marrow, which still contains a network of RNA, is a reticulocyte.
Missing Word
reticulocyte
Reticulocytes mature into red blood cells within the circulation. A rising count shows the marrow is responding to blood loss or destruction.
Category: Sickle Cell and Thalassemia
Question 2
Red blood cells that are smaller than normal, as seen in iron-deficiency anemia, are described as microcytic.
Missing Word
microcytic
Microcytic means small cell. Iron deficiency produces small, pale red cells because the marrow lacks the iron it needs to make enough hemoglobin.
Category: Anemias
Question 3
Painful swelling of the hands and feet, an early sign of sickle cell disease in young children, is called dactylitis.
Missing Word
dactylitis
Dactylitis, also called hand-foot syndrome, results from sickled cells blocking blood flow to the small bones of the hands and feet.
Category: Sickle Cell and Thalassemia
Question 4
The iron-storage protein whose serum level reflects the body's iron stores, low in iron deficiency and high in transfusion-related iron overload, is ferritin.
Missing Word
ferritin
Ferritin holds iron inside cells, and the small amount in the blood rises and falls with total iron stores, although inflammation can also raise it. A low level confirms depleted iron, while a rising level in a patient who receives frequent transfusions signals iron overload that may need chelation therapy.
Category: Anemias
Question 5
A combined shortage of red cells, white cells and platelets is called pancytopenia.
Missing Word
pancytopenia
Pancytopenia means a deficiency of every blood cell line. A patient with worsening neutropenia is watched for it because it adds bleeding and anemia to infection risk.
Category: Neutropenia
Question 6
Anemia that develops when the stomach makes too little intrinsic factor, so vitamin B12 cannot be absorbed, is called pernicious anemia.
Missing Word
pernicious
Pernicious anemia most often results from an autoimmune attack on the stomach cells that make intrinsic factor. Because the problem is absorption, vitamin B12 is replaced by a route that bypasses the gut, usually injection, and therapy is lifelong.
Category: Anemias
Question 7
The yellow pigment produced when heme from destroyed red cells is broken down, often elevated in sickle cell disease, is bilirubin.
Missing Word
bilirubin
Bilirubin is formed from the breakdown of hemoglobin. Rapid red cell destruction produces more than the liver can clear, causing jaundice.
Category: Sickle Cell and Thalassemia
Question 8
Premature destruction of red blood cells, which shortens their life span, is called hemolysis.
Missing Word
hemolysis
Hemolysis is the breakdown of red cells before their normal life span ends. It can result from inherited disorders, autoimmune reactions, infections, medications or incompatible transfusions, and when it outpaces the marrow's ability to replace the cells, hemolytic anemia results.
Category: Anemias
Question 9
A transfusion reaction caused by bacteria growing in a contaminated unit, marked by high fever, chills, hypotension and a rapid heart rate, is a septic reaction.
Missing Word
septic
A septic transfusion reaction results from bacterial contamination of a blood product and can progress quickly to shock. The nurse stops the transfusion, keeps the line open with normal saline, notifies the provider and sends the bag and tubing to the blood bank for culture.
Category: Blood Products and Transfusion
Question 10
Blood products are infused through special tubing with a filter that traps clots and cell debris.
Missing Word
filter
Blood administration sets contain a filter so that small clots and aggregates in the unit do not enter the patient's circulation.
Category: Blood Products and Transfusion
Question 11
Enlargement of the spleen, which can occur in polycythemia as blood volume expands, is called splenomegaly.
Missing Word
splenomegaly
Splenomegaly can cause early fullness and abdominal discomfort. Imaging may be used to monitor spleen size in blood disorders.
Category: Polycythemia
Question 12
A patient with severe neutropenia may be placed in a room with positive pressure, which pushes air out of the room so that unfiltered air from the hallway does not flow in.
Missing Word
positive
Positive pressure keeps outside air and the pathogens it carries from entering the room of a patient with few neutrophils. It is the opposite of the negative pressure rooms used for patients with airborne infections, which keep contaminated air from escaping.
Category: Neutropenia
Question 13
Reddish-brown urine caused by free pigment from destroyed red cells, a sign of an acute hemolytic transfusion reaction, is called hemoglobinuria.
Missing Word
hemoglobinuria
Hemoglobinuria occurs when red cells break apart inside the vessels and their hemoglobin is filtered into the urine. During a transfusion it calls for stopping the infusion and sending a urine specimen to the lab.
Category: Blood Products and Transfusion
Question 14
Temperatures are not taken by the rectal route in a patient with severe neutropenia, because it can injure the mucosa and introduce bacteria.
Missing Word
rectal
Even minor injury to the rectal lining can let bacteria into the bloodstream of a patient with few neutrophils, so rectal temperatures, suppositories and enemas are avoided. Oral or other routes are used to monitor for fever, the main early sign of infection.
Category: Neutropenia
Question 15
Thalassemia is a group of inherited disorders in which defects in the alpha-globin or beta-globin genes reduce hemoglobin production.
Missing Word
Thalassemia
Thalassemia lowers the amount of hemoglobin each red cell can make, producing small, pale cells. Severe forms need regular transfusions and treatment of iron overload.
Category: Sickle Cell and Thalassemia