How does a blood smear correlate with a CBC?

The correlation between a blood smear and a Complete Blood Count (CBC) lies primarily in the role of the blood smear in providing a more detailed evaluation of cellular morphology. A blood smear is a laboratory test that involves spreading a drop of blood onto a slide, allowing for microscopic examination of the cells within the blood sample. This examination helps to look for abnormalities such as changes in size, shape, or color of blood cells, which can indicate underlying medical conditions.

When a CBC is performed, it provides quantitative data about different components of blood, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelets. While CBC results give an overall picture of blood cell counts and some basic information about the cells, they do not provide detailed morphological characteristics.

When abnormal CBC results are obtained, such as elevated white blood cell count, low hemoglobin levels, or an unusual platelet count, a blood smear is used as a follow-up test to investigate these abnormalities further. This is because the blood smear can reveal specific features such as variations in cell size (anisocytosis), presence of immature cells, evidence of hemolysis, or other conditions like leukemia or anemia.

Thus, the blood smear serves a critical purpose when assessing