Transcription
Teardrop cells, also known as dacrocytes, are our topic today. Let's continue our discussion about hematology. This is me. The coast is perfection. Airless. So, any abnormally shaped red blood cell is called a poikilocyte. So, a teardrop cell is a poikilocyte. A spherocyte is a poikilocyte, and a drepanocyte is a poikilocyte, and an elliptocyte is a poikilocyte. A schistocyte is a poikilocyte. A sickle cell is a poikilocyte. A target cell is a poikilocyte. This is called poikilocytosis. Poikilo means we have abnormal shape. This is different from anisocytosis. Iso means the same. Aniso, not the same. So, here we have different, not shape, but size. So, the red blood cells have abnormal shape; this is called poikilocytosis. If they have different size, this is anisocytosis. Huge difference.
So, let's get to the root of the word dacrocytes. From the Greek word dakruon, which means a tear, and cyte means cell. So, this is a cell that looks like it's tearing. And there is a condition of dacryoadenitis. Adenitis, inflammation. Cyst is like a cyst or a sack. Dacryo means tear. Guess what's that? This is inflammation of the lacrimal sac, dacryoadenitis. How about dacryocystectomy? Removal of the lacrimal sac. You will never forget it. So, dacrocyte, or a teardrop cell, one of the poikilocytes, not anisocytes. There is membrane damage to the red blood cell membrane. They are found in many conditions; however, it could be an artifact. An artifact. If all the tails are pointing to the same direction, it's an artifact. So, for example, if they are like this, all of them in the slides are looking in the same direction, this is an artifact. A disease will have like this, and this, and like this. Will be very abnormal, very haphazard, like this. Okay.
So, diseases include hemolytic anemias, thalassemia, which is a hemolytic anemia, iron deficiency anemia, especially severe cases, myelofibrosis, myeloid metaplasia, myeloid metaplasia means the bone marrow got infiltrated by different tissue, okay, or anything else, myelodysplastic syndrome, or MDS. We'll talk about these conditions later. If the tails are pointing to the same direction, artifact. Pointing to different directions, it's a disease. So, what's the mechanism of this? Basically, you have a red blood cell getting squeezed in a bone marrow or spleen with increased connective tissue. So, increased connective tissue in a bone marrow will lead the red blood cell to get squeezed while getting out of the bone marrow. Same thing with spleen. Spleen is infiltrated with connective tissue; blood cell gets squeezed into a teardrop cell or dacrocyte. So, here we have problems in the bone marrow, such as myelophthisis and myelofibrosis, also MDS. Here in the spleen, we have functional asplenia. The spleen is useless if it's infiltrated or overwhelmed with different tissue or different tasks to do. Hemolytic anemia, sickle cell, and thalassemia.
So, here is a mnemonic: My bone marrow is fibrosis; my spleen is overwhelmed; that's why I'm shedding tears of blood, literally teardrop cells or dacrocytes. Bone marrow is fibrosis; this is myelofibrosis or myelophthisis, infiltration. Spleen is overwhelmed, functional asplenia. Sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, etc. And we are done for today. Please subscribe, or I'll shed someday. Grow hmm. Okay, see you next time. I hate myself.