Measuring WBCs

• The Basics
• Reactive
• Terms

• Acute Leukemia
• Dysplasia
• Myeloproliferative

• Acute
• Chronic 

Quiz Please

Most people with acute myelogenous leukemia will have an elevated peripheral WBC count, with abnormal cells (blasts) in the peripheral smear, but not everyone does.

• As many as 20% of patients will have a WBC count that is not signficantly elevated at the time of diagnosis. This situation is referred to as a subleukemic leukemia.
• This isn't to say they have a normal blood smear, far from it.
• They're almost always anemic.
• They have thrombocytopenia
• And they will have blasts in the circulating blood.
• Some people will even have a low peripheral WBC count (<3,000)
• Again, the blood smear is far from normal.
• Anemia and thrombocytopenia.
• Again blasts are present in the blood smear.
• The situation where blasts are not seen in the peripheral blood is referred to as an aleukemic leukemia.
• Still, the person is symptomatic (anemia, infections, bleeding).
• The blood smear shows RBC and platelet abnormalities.