Hematology
|
WikiDoc Resources for Hematology |
|
Articles |
|---|
|
Most recent articles on Hematology |
|
Media |
|
Evidence Based Medicine |
|
Clinical Trials |
|
Ongoing Trials on Hematology at Clinical Trials.gov Clinical Trials on Hematology at Google
|
|
Guidelines / Policies / Govt |
|
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on Hematology
|
|
Books |
|
News |
|
Commentary |
|
Definitions |
|
Patient Resources / Community |
|
Patient resources on Hematology Discussion groups on Hematology Patient Handouts on Hematology Directions to Hospitals Treating Hematology Risk calculators and risk factors for Hematology
|
|
Healthcare Provider Resources |
|
Causes & Risk Factors for Hematology |
|
Continuing Medical Education (CME) |
|
International |
|
|
|
Business |
|
Experimental / Informatics |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Editor-In-Chief: Robert Killeen, MD
Associate Editor-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]
Overview
Hematology (American English) or haematology (British English) is the branch of biology (physiology), pathology, clinical laboratory, internal medicine, and pediatrics that is concerned with the study of blood, the blood-forming organs, and blood diseases. Hematology includes the study of etiology, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and prevention of blood diseases. The lab work that goes into the study of blood is performed by a Medical Technologist.
Blood diseases affect the production of blood and its components, such as blood cells, haemoglobin, blood proteins, the mechanism of coagulation, etc.
Hematologists and Hematopathologists
Physicians specialized in hematology are known as hematologists. Their routine work mainly includes the care and treatment of patients with hematological diseases, although some may also work at the hematology laboratory viewing blood films and bone marrow slides under the microscope, interpreting various hematological test results. In some institutions, hematologists also manage the hematology laboratory. Physicians who mainly work in hematology laboratories, and most commonly manage it, are pathologists specialized in the diagnosis of hematological diseases, referred to as hematopathologists. Hematologists and hematopathologists generally work in conjunction to formulate a diagnosis and deliver the most appropiate therapy if needed. Hematology is a distinct subspecialty of internal medicine, separate from but overlapping with the subspecialty of medical oncology. Hematologists may specialise further or have special interests, for example in:
- treating bleeding disorders such as hemophilia and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura
- treating hematological malignacies such as lymphoma and leukemia (onco hematology)
- treating hemoglobinopathies
- in the science of blood transfusion and the work of a blood bank
(Hema- comes from the Greek word "`'aima" meaning "blood", -logy comes from the Greek "logos" meaning word. [referring to the first root word, as in biology, with bio- meaning life and, of course
Common basic clinical hematology tests
In a clinical laboratory the hematology department performs numerous different tests on blood. The most commonly performed test is the complete blood count (CBC) also called full blood count (FBC), which includes; white blood cell count, platelet count, hemoglobin level and several parameters of red blood cells. Coagulation is a sub-speciality of hematology; basic general coagulation tests are the prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT). Another common hematology test in the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).
In a blood bank the Coombs test is the most commonly performed test.
(Images shown below are courtesy of Melih Aktan MD, Istanbul Medical Faculty - Turkey, and Kyoto University - Japan, and Hospital Universitario La Fe Servicio Hematologia)
-
Normal bone marrow -
Normal bone marrow
-
Normal peripheral blood cells -
Normal spleen
-
Monocyte TEM -
-
Lymphocyte and erytrocyte -
-
Erythrocyte rouleaux formation -
Erythrocyte rouleaux formation -
-
-
Fragmentated erytrocytes -
Hematology as basic medical science
- Blood
- Red blood cells
- Reticuloendothelial system
- Lymphatic system
- Blood transfusion
- Haemostasis
- Complement system
Classification of hematologic diseases
- Hemoglobinopathies (congenital abnormality of the hemoglobin molecule or of the rate of hemoglobin synthesis)
- Anemias (lack of red blood cells or hemoglobin)
- Iron deficiency anemia
- Megaloblastic anemia
- Vitamin B12 deficiency
- Folate deficiency
- Hemolytic anemias (destruction of red blood cells)
- Genetic disorders of RBC membrane
- Genetic disorders of RBC metabolism
- Immune mediated hemolytic anaemia (direct Coombs test is positive)
- Autoimmune hemolytic anemia
- Warm antibody autoimmune hemolytic anemia
- Idiopathic
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
- Evans' syndrome (antiplatelet antibodies and haemolytic antibodies)
- Cold antibody autoimmune hemolytic anemia
- Warm antibody autoimmune hemolytic anemia
- Alloimmune hemolytic anemia
- Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN)
- Rh disease (Rh D)
- ABO hemolytic disease of the newborn
- Anti-Kell hemolytic disease of the newborn
- Rhesus c hemolytic disease of the newborn
- Rhesus E hemolytic disease of the newborn
- Other blood group incompatibility (RhC, Rhe, Kid, Duffy, MN, P and others)
- Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN)
- Drug induced immune mediated hemolytic anaemia
- Penicillin (high dose)
- Methyldopa
- Autoimmune hemolytic anemia
- Hemoglobinopathies (where these is an unstable or crystalline hemoglobin)
- Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (rare acquired clonal disorder of red blood cell surface proteins)
- Direct physical damage to RBCs
- Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia
- Secondary to artificial heart valve(s)
- Aplastic anemia
- Decreased numbers of cells
- Myelodysplastic syndrome
- Myelofibrosis
- Neutropenia (decrease in the number of neutrophils)
- Agranulocytosis
- Glanzmann's thrombasthenia
- Thrombocytopenia (decrease in the number of platelets)
- Myeloproliferative disorders (Increased numbers of cells)
- Polycythemia vera (increase in the number of cells in general)
- Leukocytosis (increase in the number of white blood cells)
- Thrombocytosis (increase in the number of platelets)
- Myeloproliferative disorder
- Hematological malignancies
- Lymphomas
- Hodgkin's disease
- Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma{includes the next eight entries}
- Burkitt's lymphoma
- Anaplastic large cell lymphoma
- Splenic marginal zone lymphoma
- Hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma
- Angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma (AILT)
- Myelomas
- Plasmacytoma
- Leukemias
- Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL)
- Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL){now included in theCLL/SCLL type NHL}
- Acute myelogenous leukemia (AML)
- Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)
- T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL)
- B-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (B-PLL)
- Chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL)
- Hairy cell leukemia (HCL)
- T-cell large granular lymphocyte leukemia (T-LGL)
- Aggressive NK-cell leukemia
- Lymphomas
- Coagulopathies (disorders of bleeding and coagulation)
- Thrombocytosis
- Recurrent thrombosis
- Disseminated intravascular coagulation
- Disorders of clotting proteins
- Disorders of platelets
- Miscellaneous
- Hematological changes secondary to non-hematological disorders
Tests
Tests used in the investigation of hematological problems include:
- Full blood count
- Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)
- Blood film
- Bone marrow examination
- Coombs test
- Diascopy
- serum Ferritin level
- Vitamin B12 and Folate levels
- Prothrombin time
- Partial thromboplastin time
- Protein electrophoresis
- Hemoglobin electrophoresis
- D-dimer
Treatments
Treatments include:
- Diet advice
- Oral medication - tablets or liquid medicines
- Anticoagulation therapy
- Intramuscular injections (for example, Vitamin B12 injections)
- Blood transfusion (for anemia)
- Venesection (for iron overload or polycythemia)
- Bone marrow transplant (for example, for leukemia)
- Chemotherapy (for example, for leukemia)
- Radiotherapy (in decline, for example, for leukemia)
External links
- American Society of Hematology
- BloodLine
- Major milestones in history of hematology (PDF)
- Multilingual index
- Extensive Hematology Slide Collection
Additional Resources
af:Hematologie
bn:রক্তবিদ্যা
bg:Хематология
ca:Hematologia
de:Hämatologie
eo:Hematologio
eu:Hematologia
fa:خونشناسی
gl:Hematoloxía
id:Hematologi
is:Blóðfræði
he:המטולוגיה
lt:Hematologija
nl:Hematologie
nds:Hämatologie
sq:Hematologjia
sk:Hematológia
fi:Hematologia
sv:Hematologi
th:โลหิตวิทยา