Clinical Notes:
A complete blood count (CBC) is used to evaluate overall health
and detect a wide range of disorders, including anemia, infection, and leukemia. There have been
some reports of WBC and platelet counts being lower in venous blood than in capillary blood samples,
although still within these reference ranges.
Possible causes of abnormal parameters:
|
High |
Low |
| RBC,
Hb, or HCT |
Dehydration,
polycythemia, shock, chronic hypoxia |
Anemia,
thalassemia, and other hemoglobinopathies |
| MCV |
Macrocytic anemia, liver disease
|
Microcytic anemia |
| WBC |
Acute stress, infection,
malignancies |
Sepsis, marrow hypoplasia |
| Platelets |
Risk of thrombosis |
Risk of bleeding |