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Hi All,
I took Pekoe for some follow-up blood work a couple of
weeks ago. Both his vet and I learned something that neither of us knew
before. The lab where we send the blood work to is located approx. 3 hrs.
away, and the samples are sent on a daily basis by courier. The last
couple of times, the vet clinic has prepared a slide to look at his Platelet
Count themselves, as well as send a sample off to the lab. The vet clinic
runs the count manually (meaning they count the number of platelets seen per
field), whereas the lab runs the count by machine. Pekoe's last Platelet
Count from the lab was 11 (N = 93 - 514), yet the vet clinic counted 4 - 5
platelets per field, and saw 8 in one field - their Normal Range is 2 - 9 per
field. They called the lab because they couldn't understand why there was
such a difference in the two values. Come to find out, Platelets degrade
or break down after 6 hrs!! The lab told the vet clinic to go by their
clinic test because it would be more accurate than the lab's. Whenever I
take Pekoe for blood work, I usually take him at 9:30 am. The clinic looks
at the slide before I even leave. Now, their courier leaves at 2:00 pm, so
by the time the lab receives the samples it would most likely be around 5:00
pm. But, the lab doesn't run the samples until the next morning. So,
even though samples are properly preserved/refrigerated, the time elapsed is
going to affect especially a Platelet Count. Who knew!!!!!!
Pekoe continues to do well on the Interferon Alpha
regime, and the higher dose of Prednisone. We're going to be able to start
reducing the dose of Prednisone now. His last blood work was as
follows:
WBC - 11.2 - was 8.4 (N = 4.2 - 13)
RBC - 6.1 - was 5.6 (N = 6.2 - 10.6)
Hb - 111 - was 107 (N = 93 - 153)
PCV - 30% - was 32% (N = 28 - 49%)
MCV - 50 - was 58 (N = 39 - 52)
MCH - 18 - was 19 (N = 13 - 17)
MCHC - 365 - was 335 (N = 300 - 344)
RDW - 21.6 - was 19.7 (N = 14 - 17)
T.S. Protein - 81 - was 80 (N = 60 - 80)
Seg Neutrophil Count - 8.85 - was 4.54 (N = 2.1 - 8.3)
Taking it one day at a time,
Marlene
Pekoe & Angel Digby
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- Lab Test Discrepancies Marlene Chornie
