2018 Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages 33-36
A critical situation erythrocyte aggregation appearing during cardiopulmonary bypass procedure is said to be caused from echinocytosis in alkalemia. Ordinary smear investigation,however, is difficult to evaluate morphology of erythrocytes in acid-base abnormalities. In this report, we tried to see erythrocytes morphology in alkalemia using red cells suspension. Red cell suspensions with different acid-base balance were prepared and plated in culture plates. Using inverted microscope, erythrocytes were evaluated from the bottom of the plates. We can see normal erythrocytes in red cell suspension with pH 7.5 without influence of glass effect, an artificial morphologic abnormality usually observed using glass slides and cover slides. On the other hand, plentiful erythrocytes with pH 9.0 showed morphologic abnormalities so called echinocyto. These findings show an effective method for erythrocytes morphology in acid-base abnormalities. Also, echinocyto are appeared in alkalemia, which is candidate cause of erythrocyte aggregation occurring in cardiopulmonary bypass in surgery.
