Virtual Pathology Lab

A 14-year-old girl presented with a three-week history of symptoms of fever, sore throat, a slightly swollen spleen, and swollen lymph glands.

The patient has an elevated white blood cell count and an increase in atypical white blood cells.

This patient is being diagnosed with Mononucleosis because of her persistent symptoms of fever and swollen lymph nodes.



A 14-year-old boy presented at the doctor’s office with flu-like symptoms

The patient has an elevate white blood cells count and mainly neutrophilis are present.

This patient is being diagnosed with a Bacterial or Viral Infection due to his elevated white blood cell count and flu-like symptoms.



A 20-year-old female presented to the doctor’s office in September with concerns about fatigue. She had worked as youth camp counselor during the summer.

The patient has typical concentrations of blood cells found in their smear.

The patient has been diagnosed normal and healthy as of now.

Journal

1. In what ways do normal red and white blood cells differ?

Red blood cells are for transporting oxygen. White blood cells are the cells of the immune system and are responsible for defending the body against disease and foreign entities. White blood cells also contain a nucleus while red blood cells do not.

2. Which type of white blood cell would you expect to be most common in a normal blood smear?

The most common white blood cells found in a smear would be Neutrophil cells which are 40% to 75% of all the white blood cells.

3. A differential count of white blood cells from a patient gable the absolute number of lymphocytes as 8000 per mm3 and the total number of white blood cells as 12,000 per mm3. Calculate the percentage of lymphocytes in this sample of white blood cells. Is this a normal or abnormal percentage? Explain your answer.

Normal results for lymphocyte count would be between 20% and 40%. This patient appears to have at leafs 60% and is classified as abnormal.

4. Describe the difference between a communicable disease and an inherited disease. Use examples you have studied in this exploration to supper your description.

In inherited disease is a genetic disorder that you were born with such as anemia. A communicable disease, or contagious disease, is passed through an infected person such as mononucleosis.

5. Why are white blood cells in a stained blood smear usually counted at low power under a microscope? Explain your answer.

At lower power it is easier to spot the nucleus in white blood cells which makes them easier to count.

6. Why is the presence of a larger than normal number or neutrophils indicative of an infection? Explain your answer.

Neutrophils are responsible for fighting infections and are present at the first signs of inflammation. Higher than normal counts of these phagocytes are indicative of an infection.

7. Why would you not expect to see tissue macrophages in a blood smear? Explain your answer.

Tissue macrophages are found in tissue like connective tissue and would not be probably to spot in a blood sample.