MEDICAL BIOLOGY, HUMAN ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY - Ya.I. Fedonyuk 2010

ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, PATHOLOGY

CHAPTER 4. BLOOD SYSTEM

PATHOLOGY OF THE BLOOD SYSTEM

QUANTITATIVE BLOOD CHANGES

1. ANEMIAS

Anemia is a condition characterized by a decrease in THE RED Blood Cell count and Hemoglobin concentration per unit volume of blood. As a rule, anemias are accompanied by qualitative changes in erythrocytes: peripheral blood reveals red Blood Cells of varying sizes (anisocytosis) and shapes (poikilocytosis); occasionally, basophilic inclusion bodies (Howell-Jolly bodies) or basophilic rings (Cabot rings) are found. In certain types of anemias, nucleated red blood cell precursors (erythroblasts, megaloblasts, normoblasts) and immature forms (polychromatophils) appear. Erythrocytes may exhibit altered staining properties due to an increase or decrease in their hemoglobin content (hyperchromia and hypochromia).

According to their Etiology AND Pathogenesis, anemias are divided into three main groups:

1) caused by blood loss, or posthemorrhagic;

2) caused by impaired hematopoiesis;

3) caused by increased red blood cell destruction, or hemolytic.

Based on the regenerative capacity of the Bone Marrow, anemias may be classified as regenerative, hyperregenerative, hyporegenerative, or aplastic.

Examination of bone marrow aspirates makes it possible to determine the type of erythropoiesis: normoblastic, megaloblastic, or erythroblastic.



Last update: 08/08/2026

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