HLSC 3464U Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Bone Marrow, Hematology, Clinical Pathology
Document Summary
Hematology is the field of clinical pathology that deals with blood and blood- forming organs. For all practical purposes, hematology evaluates primarily the cellular components of blood. Red blood cells: most abundant cell found on cancer, bioconcave shape, lacking nuclei, smaller than wbcs, oxygen carrying component of the blood, decreased in blood loss; anemia, increased destruction. Platelets: vital for the formation of blood clots during any injury to prevent bleeding. Neutrophils: fights infection and inflammation, multi-lobed, most numerous. Basophil: numerous course, dark blue granules, 2 lobes. Malignant proliferation of wbcs originating in and infiltrating the bone marrow. Leukemia generally involves the peripheral blood, and often infiltrates the spleen, liver, and lymph nodes. We have lots of stem cells in our bone marrow, cancers can hijack these stem cells and destroy genetic information that lose maturity. Inside of the bone marrow we contain a ton of immature cells, only until they reach full maturation are they released into the circulatory system.
