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Animals : An Open Access Journal From... Mar 2023Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a quantitative laboratory parameter applied for the measurement of anisocytosis and is a reliable and inexpensive method for... (Review)
Review
Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) is a quantitative laboratory parameter applied for the measurement of anisocytosis and is a reliable and inexpensive method for clinical classification of anemia. An increased RDW reflects a great heterogeneity in the size of red blood cells typical of regenerative and iron-deficiency anemia. In humans, numerous and recent studies have shown a relationship between increased RDW and the risk of morbidity and mortality in patients with various disorders. In particular, a strong association has been established between changes in RDW and the risk of adverse outcome in humans with diseases affecting different organs or systems. Following the human literature, some studies have recently been conducted trying to clarify the clinical role of RDW in various animal disorders, particularly in dogs. In this review, we summarize and critically evaluate the results of the studies based on the measurement of RDW in dogs. We also emphasize the need for further and more extensive studies on the use of this simple and inexpensive parameter in animals.
PubMed: 36978525
DOI: 10.3390/ani13060985 -
Clinical Case Reports Dec 2022Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare life-threatening condition characterized by widespread activation of the immune system leading to tissue damage all...
Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare life-threatening condition characterized by widespread activation of the immune system leading to tissue damage all over the body. It is divided into primary HLH due to inborn error in lymphocytes, T cells, and macrophages and secondary HLH which is mostly due to infections, systemic connective tissue diseases, and lymphoid malignancies. Here, we report a 34-year-old man with a history of high-grade fever, chills, and rigor, eschar, splenomegaly with the laboratory findings of thrombocytopenia, hypochromic RBCs with anisocytosis and basophilic stippling, elevated transaminases, and a positive Weil Felix test along with positive PCR results for Orientia tsutsugamushi and the presence of IgG and IgM antibodies. A detailed workup was done to rule out other etiology for fever. Diagnosis of HLH secondary to Rickettsia infection was made with a thorough history, clinical evaluation, and a variety of investigations. The patient was treated with Doxycycline, Ciprofloxacin, Etoposide, and Dexamethasone but unfortunately, the patient died during treatment due to multiorgan failure. Patients with scrub typhus typically respond well to therapy; therefore, early detection and antibiotic treatment can help avoid serious complications. Scrub typhus with the hemophagocytic syndrome can result in DIC and multiorgan failure. Despite its rarity, scrub typhus may be lethal; as a result, practitioners must be aware of the necessity of detecting and treating suspected cases as soon as possible. We learned that a systematic diagnostic approach, use of diagnostic criteria, and prompt treatment are very crucial in this disease.
PubMed: 36523375
DOI: 10.1002/ccr3.6730 -
Annals of Gastroenterology 2020Red blood cell distribution width is a parameter measured automatically in every complete blood count that actually reflects the degree of anisocytosis of the red blood... (Review)
Review
Red blood cell distribution width is a parameter measured automatically in every complete blood count that actually reflects the degree of anisocytosis of the red blood cell population. It is a cost-effective tool used in everyday clinical practice along with other parameters to define and narrow the cause of anemia. In a series of pathologic entities, such as cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune diseases, malignancy, chronic renal diseases and chronic respiratory diseases, where inflammation and oxidative stress comprise the major pathophysiologic insults, red cell distribution width behaves as a significant and competent marker able to predict and assess disease activity and severity. A number of clinical studies based on these observations have aimed to evaluate its potential utility as an index of activity in inflammatory bowel disease. In this narrative review we present data from the international literature regarding its ability to express disease activity and we look into its relation with clinical, laboratory and endoscopic indices used to identify active disease. According to the results of published clinical trials, red cell distribution width is considerably correlated with disease activity and might serve as an index to differentiate Crohn's disease from ulcerative colitis.
PubMed: 32624654
DOI: 10.20524/aog.2020.0486 -
Pathogens & Immunity 2020Red cell distribution width (RDW), a measure of anisocytosis, is observed in chronic inflammation and is a prognostic marker in critically ill patients without COVID-19,...
BACKGROUND
Red cell distribution width (RDW), a measure of anisocytosis, is observed in chronic inflammation and is a prognostic marker in critically ill patients without COVID-19, but data in COVID-19 are limited.
METHODS
Between March 12 and April 19, 2020, 282 individuals with confirmed COVID-19 and RDW available within 7 days prior to COVID-19 confirmation were evaluated. Individuals were grouped by quartiles of RDW. Association between quartiles of RDW and mortality was assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method and statistical significance was assessed using the log-rank test. The association between RDW and all-cause mortality was further assessed using a Cox proportional hazards model. Plasma cytokine levels in uninfected ambulatory adults without cardiovascular disease (n=38) were measured and bivariate Spearman correlations and principle components analysis were used to identify relationships between cytokine concentrations with RDW.
RESULTS
After adjusting for age, sex, race, cardiovascular disease, and hemoglobin, there was an association between RDW and mortality (Quartile 4 vs Quartile 1: HR 4.04 [1.08-15.07]), with each 1% increment in RDW associated with a 39% increased rate of mortality (HR 1.39 [1.21-1.59]). Remote RDW was also associated with mortality after COVID-19 infection. Among uninfected ambulatory adults without cardiovascular disease, RDW was associated with elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL8, IL6, IL1b), but not regulatory cytokines (TGFb).
CONCLUSIONS
Anisocytosis predicts short-term mortality in COVID-19 patients, often predates viral exposure, and may be related to a pro-inflammatory phenotype. Additional study of whether the RDW can assist in the early identification of pending cytokine storm is warranted.
PubMed: 33089037
DOI: 10.20411/pai.v5i1.391 -
Cureus Jun 2023Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare but potentially fatal disease characterized by excessive immune response activation. Numerous conditions, including...
Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare but potentially fatal disease characterized by excessive immune response activation. Numerous conditions, including infectious etiologies, are implicated in its development. We report the case of a 16-year-old girl with HLH associated with polyserositis and infection. A 16-year-old girl presented with a high-grade fever and abdominal pain that had been ongoing for 20 days. She had been treated for malaria at a local hospital but was referred to our hospital due to the worsening of her condition. On examination, she was found to have an enlarged liver and spleen, pale skin, and hypotension, with bilateral basal crackles on chest examination. Her blood profile revealed pancytopenia, elevated C-reactive protein, and a deranged coagulation profile. Peripheral smears showed anisocytosis, microcytes, hypochromia in RBCs, and a few platelet clumps. A bone marrow biopsy revealed increased megakaryocytes and hemophagocytes. Ultrasound and computed tomography of the abdomen and pelvis showed hepatosplenomegaly, pericholecystic edema, mild ascites, and long-segment diffuse colonic wall thickening, suggesting pancolitis. Blood culture revealed , which is rarely associated with HLH. The patient was started on the HLH-2004 protocol and showed improvement on the fourth day of initiating therapy, but due to a delayed diagnosis, the patient collapsed on the sixth day of admission. HLH is a rare but life-threatening disease with various underlying causes. The diagnosis of HLH is challenging, and early diagnosis and prompt treatment are crucial for a better prognosis. The association between HLH and infection is rare, and this case highlights the importance of considering unusual etiologies in HLH. Clinicians should be vigilant about this association, especially in endemic regions, to ensure early diagnosis and prompt treatment.
PubMed: 37525775
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.41182 -
Heliyon Mar 2022Insecticides are commonly used pesticides in the world. Chronic exposure to insecticides has adverse effects on various human body organs. In this study, hematological...
Insecticides are commonly used pesticides in the world. Chronic exposure to insecticides has adverse effects on various human body organs. In this study, hematological findings were assessed in workers in an insecticide manufacturing plant. Hematological parameters and clinical symptoms were recorded in 99 workers exposed to insecticides and 107 workers not exposed to them in a cross-sectional study. Assessment of the hematological results showed a higher prevalence of thrombocytosis in the exposed group than the non-exposed group (P < 0.05). Mean white blood cell (WBC) and platelet counts, anisocytosis of red blood cells (RBCs), and neutrophils to lymphocytes ratio (NLR) were significantly higher in the exposed group compared to the non-exposed group (P < 0.05). Prevalence rates of headache, itchy skin, cough, and sleep disorders were higher in the exposed group than in the non-exposed group (P < 0.05). Chronic exposure to insecticides can alter hematological parameters in the normal range. Occupational exposure to insecticides may increase WBCs, platelet count, NLR, and red cell distribution width (RDW). It can also cause thrombocytosis. Complete blood count (CBC), as an inexpensive and accessible tool, can help monitor workers' health status exposed to insecticides properly.
PubMed: 35299610
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09040 -
Animals : An Open Access Journal From... Nov 2022Extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) is a plasma cell tumor that is very rarely reported in ocular and adnexal tissue and is usually solitary and benign.
BACKGROUND
Extramedullary plasmacytoma (EMP) is a plasma cell tumor that is very rarely reported in ocular and adnexal tissue and is usually solitary and benign.
METHODS
This study evaluated seven cases from different ophthalmology referrals submitted for histopathological analysis between 2013 and 2022.
RESULTS
EMPs were diagnosed in a 9-year-old domestic short-haired cat and in six dogs (median age, 10 years): three English Cocker Spaniels, a Golden Retriever, a Maltese, and a Pinscher. EMPs affected the third eyelid conjunctiva in five cases (5/7), followed by the superior bulbar (1/7) and palpebral conjunctivae (1/7), respectively, and were presented mostly as well-defined, salmon-colored nodules. Histopathologically, the masses were composed of sheets and packets of round cells morphologically consistent with mature plasma cells with mild anisocytosis and anisokaryosis; mitosis and binucleated giant cells were rarely observed. Follow up for 6/7 cases ranged from 6 months to 2 years. No signs of recurrence or systemic involvement (multiple myeloma) were observed.
CONCLUSIONS
EMP should be included in the differential diagnoses of canine and feline conjunctival masses. Staging recommendations should include multiple myeloma diagnostic evaluation. Our results suggest that primary conjunctival EMP does not appear to be locally aggressive and has low systemic involvement behavior. The local surgical excision alone or combined with cryotherapy should be curative.
PubMed: 36359139
DOI: 10.3390/ani12213015 -
PloS One 2020Detailed temporal analyses of complete (full) blood count (CBC) parameters, their evolution and relationship to patient age, gender, co-morbidities and management...
COVID-19 disease-Temporal analyses of complete blood count parameters over course of illness, and relationship to patient demographics and management outcomes in survivors and non-survivors: A longitudinal descriptive cohort study.
BACKGROUND
Detailed temporal analyses of complete (full) blood count (CBC) parameters, their evolution and relationship to patient age, gender, co-morbidities and management outcomes in survivors and non-survivors with COVID-19 disease, could identify prognostic clinical biomarkers.
METHODS
From 29 January 2020 until 28 March 2020, we performed a longitudinal cohort study of COVID-19 inpatients at the Italian National Institute for Infectious Diseases, Rome, Italy. 9 CBC parameters were studied as continuous variables [neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, platelets, mean platelet volume, red blood cell count, haemoglobin concentration, mean red blood cell volume and red blood cell distribution width (RDW %)]. Model-based punctual estimates, as average of all patients' values, and differences between survivors and non-survivors, overall, and by co-morbidities, at specific times after symptoms, with relative 95% CI and P-values, were obtained by marginal prediction and ANOVA- style joint tests. All analyses were carried out by STATA 15 statistical package.
MAIN FINDINGS
379 COVID-19 patients [273 (72% were male; mean age was 61.67 (SD 15.60)] were enrolled and 1,805 measures per parameter were analysed. Neutrophils' counts were on average significantly higher in non-survivors than in survivors (P<0.001) and lymphocytes were on average higher in survivors (P<0.001). These differences were time dependent. Average platelets' counts (P<0.001) and median platelets' volume (P<0.001) were significantly different in survivors and non-survivors. The differences were time dependent and consistent with acute inflammation followed either by recovery or by death. Anaemia with anisocytosis was observed in the later phase of COVID-19 disease in non-survivors only. Mortality was significantly higher in patients with diabetes (OR = 3.28; 95%CI 1.51-7.13; p = 0.005), obesity (OR = 3.89; 95%CI 1.51-10.04; p = 0.010), chronic renal failure (OR = 9.23; 95%CI 3.49-24.36; p = 0.001), COPD (OR = 2.47; 95% IC 1.13-5.43; p = 0.033), cardiovascular diseases (OR = 4.46; 95%CI 2.25-8.86; p = 0.001), and those >60 years (OR = 4.21; 95%CI 1.82-9.77; p = 0.001). Age (OR = 2.59; 95%CI 1.04-6.45; p = 0.042), obesity (OR = 5.13; 95%CI 1.81-14.50; p = 0.002), renal chronic failure (OR = 5.20; 95%CI 1.80-14.97; p = 0.002) and cardiovascular diseases (OR 2.79; 95%CI 1.29-6.03; p = 0.009) were independently associated with poor clinical outcome at 30 days after symptoms' onset.
INTERPRETATION
Increased neutrophil counts, reduced lymphocyte counts, increased median platelet volume and anaemia with anisocytosis, are poor prognostic indicators for COVID19, after adjusting for the confounding effect of obesity, chronic renal failure, COPD, cardiovascular diseases and age >60 years.
Topics: Biomarkers; Blood Cell Count; COVID-19; Cohort Studies; Demography; Erythrocyte Indices; Female; Humans; Inflammation; Leukocyte Count; Longitudinal Studies; Lymphocytes; Male; Mean Platelet Volume; Middle Aged; Neutrophils; Prognosis; Rome; Survivors
PubMed: 33370366
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244129 -
Veterinary Sciences Jun 2021Anemia is considered a common finding in dogs with chronic kidney disease (CKD), typically as normochromic, normocytic, and non-regenerative. Although anemia can occur...
Anemia is considered a common finding in dogs with chronic kidney disease (CKD), typically as normochromic, normocytic, and non-regenerative. Although anemia can occur at any CKD IRIS (International Renal Interest Society) stage, its severity is related with the loss of kidney function. The aim of the present study was to retrospectively evaluate quantitative and morphological abnormalities of the erythrogram in dogs at different CKD IRIS stages. A total of 482 CBCs from 3648 initially screened were included in the study. Anemia was present in 302/482 (63%) dogs, in the majority of which it was normochromic, normocytic, and non-regenerative (295/302; 98%). The number of reticulocytes was <60,000/μL in the majority of dogs (248/295; 84%), with a correlation between poor regeneration rate and progression of CKD ( = 0.0001). The frequency of anemia significantly differed ( = 0.0001) among the IRIS stages: 108/231 (47%) in IRIS 2, 77/109 (71%) in IRIS 3, and 117/142 (82%) in IRIS 4. Dogs at IRIS stages 3 and 4 were more likely to have moderate to severe anemia, compared to dogs at IRIS stage 2 ( = 0.0001). Anisocytosis was the most frequent morphological abnormality (291/482; 60%), whereas the presence of poikilocytosis showed an association with progression of IRIS stages ( = 0.009). Among different morphological abnormalities, the frequency of fragmented red blood cells and Howell-Jolly bodies showed a significant association with the progression of CKD. Anemia was a frequent finding in CKD dogs, mostly associated with none to poor regeneration rate. Similar to human medicine, advanced CKD stages are more frequently characterized by morphological alterations, such as fragmented red blood cells and Howell-Jolly bodies, which may suggest a more severe condition of reduced bone marrow activity and microangiopathy.
PubMed: 34209294
DOI: 10.3390/vetsci8070123 -
Laboratory Animals Dec 2021A 14-month-old male Armenian hamster () presented with a spontaneous, subcutaneous, firm mass (4.0 × 2.0 × 1.5 cm) on the ventral neck extending towards the...
A 14-month-old male Armenian hamster () presented with a spontaneous, subcutaneous, firm mass (4.0 × 2.0 × 1.5 cm) on the ventral neck extending towards the cheek pouch causing multifocal small oral ulcerations. This animal was immunized subcutaneously on the dorsal neck for the development of monoclonal antibodies seven months before presentation. The animal was euthanized and necropsy was performed. Histopathology of the mass showed a well demarcated, multilobulated, unencapsulated, highly cellular, neoplastic mass composed of spindle cells arranged in interlacing streams and bundles, with a moderate amount of fibrovascular stroma. The neoplastic cells exhibited indistinct cell borders and a moderate to large amount of eosinophilic, fibrillar cytoplasm, marked anisocytosis and anisokaryosis, binucleated and multinucleated cells, and high mitotic rate. Based on the histomorphologic features of the mass, and the presence of renal tubular hyaline globules and myeloid hyperplasia in the bone marrow, a diagnosis of histiocytic sarcoma was made. The presumptive diagnosis was confirmed by immunohistochemistry, upon which the neoplastic cells showed strong immunoreactivity for the histiocytic cell markers Iba1 and CD11b. Histiocytic sarcomas have been reported in Syrian () and Siberian dwarf () hamsters but, to our knowledge, the current report represents the first case of histiocytic sarcoma described in an Armenian hamster. It is plausible to consider the animal's experimental immunization history and the development of the histiocytic sarcoma to be related. An association between adjuvanted vaccines and soft-tissue sarcomas has been described in cats and referred to as feline injection-site sarcomas.
Topics: Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Cats; Cricetinae; Cricetulus; Histiocytic Sarcoma; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Mesocricetus
PubMed: 34353145
DOI: 10.1177/00236772211033672