We had a patient today with a mild
neutropenia. The patient’s diagnosis was hyperthyroidism.
It
transpires that treatment of hyperthyroidism often causes a neutropenia
which resolves on cessation of treatment.
Something to bear in mind.
This is (supposed to be) a reflective diary by a (not very) anonymous biomedical scientist who works somewhere in the south of England. One day this diary may well be submitted to the Health and Care Professions Council as evidence of ongoing continual professional development....
13 March 2024 (Wednesday) - Hyperthyroidism
12 March 2024 (Tuesday) - IBMS Newsletter
It is widely said that in this life things
go full-circle. I suspect that in thirty years’ time a future issue of the
IBMS gazette will feature articles on the latest advances on blood testing
analysers and reagent kits, and tutorials on cell morphology and
interpretations of haemoglobinopathy traces. And the olduns of that era (today’s
trainees) will hark back to the halcyon days of 2024 when the IBMS focused on
what mattered to them; committees and awards and strange catchphrases.
12 March 2024 (Tuesday) - Oncology Central
The nice people at Oncology Central sent
their update today. Much (most) of it went over my head, but one or two
things stuck
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10 March 2024 (Sunday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise
Time for another BTLP-TACT exercise. I
had one case – a thirty-four year-old woman in the out patients department needing
group & save for “maternal alloantibody”.
She grouped as O Rh(D) Negative with a
negative antibody screen.
“maternal alloantibody” negative
(!)
I got the green light
8 MArch 2024 (Friday) - NEQAS 2401 DM
“This image
is taken from a blood film of a man aged 61 years. A blood count sent by the GP
showed that the white cell count was 40 x 10^9/L, Hb of 79 g/L and platelets of
118 x 10^9/L. What are your findings?”
In the absence of any useful clinical
information I felt this was a case of primary myelofibrosis transforming into
something nasty.
It was.
However I feel I must ask myself what I meant by “Grian plts” Bearing in mind nearly two months passed between my looking at the film and getting the results I have no recollection.
|
Rbc Anisopoikilocytosis Nucleated red
cells Polychromasia Spherocytes Tear drop
cells |
Wbc Auer
rods Blast
cells Dohle
bodies Dysplastic
neutrophils Hypersegmented
neutrophils Left shifted
neutrophils Myelocytes |
Plts Grian
plts Grey
plts Megakaryocyte
fragments |
It was.
However I feel I must ask myself what I meant by “Grian plts” Bearing in mind nearly two months passed between my looking at the film and getting the results I have no recollection.
8 March 2024 (Friday) - NEQAS Parasitology
2401 PA1
In my notes I actually wrote “odd
things… probably parasites”. They were parasites of P malariae.
But this was a thick film… I saw what
could have been parasites, but I don’t pretend to be an expert at thick films.
In reality I would have asked for a
second opinion. It wouldn’t have been missed, and that is the main thing.
2401 PA2
I saw parasites of P. falciparum with a
parasitaemia of 4%. The consensus opinion was that the parasitemia was 1.5%. I’m
over-estimating, but better over than under.
I’ll claim that as a success.
7 March 2024 (Thursday) - BTLP-TACT Exercise
Time for another BTLP-TACT exercise. I
must admit I approached this with a sense of “how will I fail this time?”
I had one case – a forty-four yar-old
woman in the out-patients department needing group and save. She grouped as O
Rh(D) Positive with a negative antibody screen.
I got the green light.
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