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A young boy of African descent is taken to hospital with respiratory failure. His haemoglobin is 60 g/L and his blood film shows sickle cells. What would you expect to see on his CBC?Question 7Select one:a.high MCV and low RDWb.normal except low Hbc.high HCT and normal RDWd.low MCV and low RDWe.low HCT and high RDW

Question

A young boy of African descent is taken to hospital with respiratory failure. His haemoglobin is 60 g/L and his blood film shows sickle cells. What would you expect to see on his CBC?Question 7Select one:a.high MCV and low RDWb.normal except low Hbc.high HCT and normal RDWd.low MCV and low RDWe.low HCT and high RDW

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Solution

The boy's condition suggests that he has sickle cell disease, a genetic disorder more common in people of African descent. This disease causes the red blood cells to become misshapen and break down.

A complete blood count (CBC) for a person with sickle cell disease would typically show:

  • Low hemoglobin (Hb): This is already indicated in the question as the boy's hemoglobin is 60 g/L, which is below the normal range. Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body's tissues and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs.

  • Normal or high mean corpuscular volume (MCV): MCV is a measure of the average size of your red blood cells. In sickle cell disease, the red blood cells can be of different sizes, so the MCV can be normal or even slightly increased.

  • High red cell distribution width (RDW): RDW is a measure of the variation in size of red blood cells. In sickle cell disease, there is usually a high variation in red blood cell size, so the RDW would be high.

  • Low hematocrit (HCT): Hematocrit is the ratio of the volume of red cells to the volume of whole blood. In sickle cell disease, the red blood cells are destroyed prematurely, leading to a low hematocrit.

So, the correct answer would be e. low HCT and high RDW.

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