| WBC |
White Blood Cell |
May be increased with infections, inflammation, cancer, leukemia; decreased with some medications (such as methotrexate), some autoimmune conditions, some severe infections, bone marrow failure, and congenital marrow aplasia (marrow doesn’t develop normally) |
| RBC |
Red Blood Cell |
Decreased with anemia; increased when too many made and with fluid loss due to diarrhea, dehydration, burns |
| Hgb |
Hemoglobin |
Mirrors RBC results |
| Hct |
Hematocrit |
Mirrors RBC results |
| MCV |
Mean Corpuscular Volume |
Increased with B12 and Folate deficiency; decreased with iron deficiency and thalassemia |
| MCH |
Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin |
Mirrors MCV results |
| MCHC |
Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin Concentration |
May be decreased when MCV is decreased; increases limited to amount of Hgb that will fit inside a RBC |
| RDW |
RBC Distribution Width |
Increased RDW indicates mixed population of RBCs; immature RBCs tend to be larger |
| Platelet |
Platelet |
Decreased or increased with conditions that affect platelet production; decreased when greater numbers used, as with bleeding; decreased with some inherited disorders (such as Wiskott-Aldrich, Bernard-Soulier), with Systemic lupus erythematosus, pernicious anemia, hypersplenism (spleen takes too many out of circulation), leukemia, and chemotherapy |
| MPV |
Mean Platelet Volume |
Vary with platelet production; younger platelets are larger than older ones |
