Artifactual Information and Courses from MediaLab, Inc.
These are the MediaLab courses that cover Artifactual and links to relevant pages within the course.
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| The peripheral blood picture shown in the photograph is most consistent with an artifact of smear preparation. | View Page |
| A peripheral smear with red blood cells photographed in a typical field was submitted for review. Which of the following conditions might be eliminated because of the cell population found here? | View Page |
| Rouleaux Rouleaux formation correlates with an increased concentration of serum monoclonal proteins. Rouleaux may be seen as an artifact in the thicker portions of blood smears. The addition of a drop of saline to the blood smear will serve to disperse any artifactual rouleaux formation. The presence of rouleaux formation or RBC agglutination may result in a falsely decreased electronic red blood count and falsely increased MCV, as these clusters may be read as one cell. | View Page |
| Stomatocytes Stomatocytes are erythrocytes with a slit-like central pallor. Otherwise, they resemble typical RBC's in size and shape. Unless 10% or more of the RBC's are stomatocytes, their presence is probably artifactual. Stomatocytes form at a low blood acidic pH as seen in exposure to cationic detergents, and in patients receiving phenolthiazine. Hereditary stomatocytosis has some resemblance to hereditary spherocytosis, as stomatocytes may develop into spherocytes with further metamorphosis. In hereditary stomatocytosis, mild anemia and findings of on-going hemolysis should be evident if the condition presents as a clinical problem at all. | View Page |
| Artifactual Rouleaux In contrast, although the cells appear to be stacked together, this field was taken in the thick portion of a normal smear. Notice the white space is not nearly as prominent as in the previous slide. | View Page |
| Which type of poikilocytosis is present in this slide? | View Page |
| Artifactual Rouleaux Another example of artifactual rouleaux seen in a thick area of normal smear. | View Page |
| Another Echinocyte Another example of an echinocyte is seen in the center of this slide. In rare instances, echinocytes circulate in vivo in uremia, following heparin injection, in certain congenital anemias and in pyruvate kinase deficiency. Plastic slides must be used to verify the presence of in vivo echinocytes. Since echinocytes do not aid in the diagnosis of these conditions, their main importance lies in the fact that they are artifactual and reversible and must be distinguished from acanthocytes. | View Page |
| Which of the following forms are frequently artifactual? | View Page |
| What type of cells are present in this slide? | View Page |