Deciphering a detailed blood test in children is a key diagnostic technique in order to identify a variety of pathologies. Of no small importance is the study of blood samples in pediatrics. This is due to the fact that the child can not always fully describe his condition, and blood sampling allows you to get a detailed assessment of his health. In the course of decoding the results of the study, a viral infection and other pathological changes can be detected. By repeated procedure, the validity of the recommended therapy can be confirmed or disproved.
Norms for decoding a detailed blood test in children will be considered below.
Indications for
This procedure is an effective method for the diagnosis of childhood diseases. If there are deviations in the results of the study, it is important to consult a pediatrician, even in cases where symptoms are absent.
Only comprehensive diagnostics can determine the causes of deviations, as well as determine an effective treatment regimen.
Among the indications for conducting a detailed blood test in children, experts distinguish the following:
- Deterioration of the child’s appetite, lethargy, drowsiness, causeless moods.
- Elevated body temperature, the appearance of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea in the absence of signs of poisoning.
- An increase in temperature in the absence of other complaints, symptoms of an infectious lesion.
- A prolonged cough that does not go away after the use of medications.
- Suspicion of helminthic invasion.
- Manifestations of seasonal allergies, difficulty breathing, lacrimation.
- The appearance of a child's irritability, sleep disturbances.
- Sudden weight loss.
- Nasal congestion, headache, not passing more than a week.
- Lower abdominal pain.
In addition, laboratory testing of blood samples is important to monitor the effectiveness of the prescribed therapy. It allows you to track the dynamics of treatment, to assess the condition of the patient after using medication.
Decryption of a detailed blood test in children should be carried out by a qualified specialist.
Key blood counts
The decoding of the result obtained after the study should be carried out by an experienced doctor. Any indicator is of great importance for the normal activity of the whole organism, and the occurrence of any deviation in blood parameters can affect the activity of organs and their systems.
Among the main data reflected in the detailed blood test in children, the following indicators are noted:
- Hemoglobin. Responsible for transporting oxygen by red blood cells. The concentration of hemoglobin affects the supply of oxygen to tissues, cells, the development of the child, the functionality of the heart.
- Red blood cells. Carry oxygen through the body, carry out the removal of carbon dioxide. Thanks to these blood cells, the blood has a red color, and any change in color can affect the well-being of the child. What other indicators of a detailed blood test in children exist?
- White blood cells. These blood cells are responsible for the activity of the immune system, their detection in a blood sample may indicate the presence of an inflammatory process in the child's body. Specialists distinguish several varieties of white blood cells, each of which is responsible for the normal activity of the child's body.
- Reticulocytes. Their concentration affects the work of the kidneys and bone marrow.
- Matured segmented neutrophils. They prevent the penetration of parasites and bacilli into the body.
- Neutrophils are unripe stabs. An increase in their concentration may indicate an infectious pathology, bacterial infection, and an inflammatory process.
- Platelets. Responsible for the coagulation process.
- Monocytes. These blood cells kill dead cells, as well as bacteria. With an increase in the concentration of monocytes, one can judge the presence of a protracted pathological disorder in the body.
- ESR (rate at which erythrocyte sedimentation occurs). An increase in this indicator indicates the presence of an inflammatory focus.
- Eosinophils. They are a type of white blood cells that can block the manifestations of allergies, inflammation, and the growth of malignant structures.
- Basophils. Responsible for allergic manifestations, blood coagulation.
- Lymphocytes These cells destroy antigens, and an increase in their concentration indicates that the body resists viral infection.
To obtain a reliable result, you should follow the doctor's recommendations. In this case, the pediatrician will be able to decrypt the analysis and recommend timely therapy, thereby preventing the development of serious consequences.
Why are there deviations from the norm in decoding a detailed blood test in children?
Reasons for deviations
Drug treatment will be effective only if the cause that led to the deviations is correctly established.
The data depend on the age of the child, when assessing the norm and decoding a detailed blood test, 7 age groups are taken into account: one day, one month, six months, a year, from 1 to 6 years, from 7 to 12 years, from 13 to 16 years.
Deviations can be triggered by the following common causes:
- Hemoglobin may increase as a result of dehydration. A similar pathological deviation can occur due to insufficient fluid intake, against the background of diarrhea, vomiting. Decreased hemoglobin can be detected against the background of exhaustion of the body, blood diseases, deficiency of vitamins, iron, anemia.
- Reduction of red blood cells is observed with malnutrition, autoimmune pathologies. The increase occurs due to cardiac abnormalities, pathologies of the heart, lungs.
- An increased concentration of monocytes may be due to a malfunction in the hematopoietic system, parasitic invasion, fungal, viral damage. A decrease in concentration may be evidence of leukemia, anemia.
- An increase in the level of leukocytes is noted with appendicitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, purulent formations, inflammations. Reduced concentration indicates viral pathologies, infectious diseases.
- An increased concentration of neutrophils can be a consequence of a bacterial, infectious disease, a reduced - a viral disease.
- The concentration of eosinophils increases with allergic reactions, tuberculosis, oncology, intestinal parasites. Poisoning and purulent formations, on the contrary, lead to a decrease in the concentration of eosinophils.
- Violation of the concentration of basophils occurs as a result of anemia, leukemia, smallpox.
- An increased white blood cell count may indicate a viral infection, a blood pathology. With a low content, renal failure, cancer, tuberculosis can be observed.
- An increase in platelet concentration may result from the development of inflammation, and a decrease in infection.
Determine the exact diagnosis allows additional examinations of the child. The doctor will have to compare the existing symptoms, the results of a general study of a blood sample and the clinical picture.
Decryption of a detailed blood test in children
During a detailed analysis, qualitative and quantitative parameters of blood elements are taken into account. For research, as a rule, capillary blood is used.
What does the decoding of a detailed general blood test mean? The red blood group assesses the quality, the number of red blood cells and all their indices. The norm of almost all indicators depends on the gender of the baby, and in addition, as already noted, on age.
Each laboratory uses its own reference values, which are prescribed in the column of the norm of a detailed blood test in children. They may differ in different laboratories, but this difference will be insignificant. Normal indicators depend on the methods of counting blood elements, as well as the equipment used. The doctor must take this fact into account when decoding the analysis. Norms are presented in the table.
The group of absolute indicators includes indicators of hemoglobin concentration, qualitative, quantitative characteristics of red blood cells. The pediatrician focuses on both indicators when decoding a detailed general blood test and determining the diagnosis.
Hemoglobin is a protein that is responsible for the binding of oxygen molecules and its transportation to tissues, organs, systems. This protein easily combines with oxygen and just as easily releases it. The transport characteristics of the blood and, accordingly, the activity of the brain, heart, and the development of the child directly depend on the saturation of the blood with hemoglobin.
By about six months of age, gender differences in hemoglobin levels become noticeable:
- The norm of hemoglobin for girls of 0.5-2 years is considered to be a concentration of 106-148 grams / liter. For boys of this age, the norm is as follows - 114-144 grams / liter.
- The norm of hemoglobin for girls 3-6 years old is considered to be an indicator of 102-142 grams / liter. For boys of the same age, the norm is as follows - 140-140 grams / liter.
An increase in hemoglobin concentration in the general detailed blood test in a child is observed with pulmonary failure, cardiac dysfunction, pathological changes in the kidneys, diabetes, blood diseases, dehydration.
Red blood cells are shaped elements, the main task of which is to transport hemoglobin, the relationship with oxygen molecules. These elements are present in blood in large quantities. Deviations from normal values - evidence of impaired regenerative function of red blood or too much loss of it.
When assessing the state of red blood, laboratory assistants take into account the number of red blood cells and their shape (normally they have a biconcave shape), as well as their level of maturity. No less important are the following indices: average hemoglobin content in an individual red blood cell, average erythrocyte volume (MCHC and MCH, respectively).
Reticulocytes are immature red blood cells. Sometimes the absolute value of reticulocytes is calculated in laboratories, but their percentage is usually analyzed in relation to the total number of red blood cells. An increased content of reticulocytes indicates an accelerated breakdown of red blood cells.
Red blood cell deficiency is observed with leukemia and other oncological pathologies, hemolysis, genetic fermentopathies, a large loss of blood, alimentary anemia. An excess of red blood cells may indicate a fluid deficiency, active loss of fluid, serious pathology in the kidneys, heart, narrowing of the renal artery, erythremia.
Also, when deciphering the results of a detailed blood test, relative indicators are also taken into account.
An important relative indicator is hematocrit, which makes it possible to estimate the ratio of the number of shaped elements to the total plasma volume. That is, hematocrit actually reflects the density of blood.
Hematocrit can decrease with renal failure, anemia, and increase with dehydration against extensive burns, vomiting, diarrhea, blood loss, and diabetes.
ESR
The next important relative indicator in decoding the general detailed clinical blood test is ESR. In newly born children, this indicator is always underestimated due to the low content of fibrinogen and an increase in red blood cell mass. Such fluctuations are physiological and do not indicate pathology. In addition, ESR is not a specific indicator, since it can fluctuate due to a variety of pathological changes.
ESR can increase against the background of renal pathologies, systemic diseases, oncology, trauma, and infection. A decrease in ESR can occur under the influence of a variety of medications, due to TBI, a neurogenic disorder.
White blood is considered responsible for the body's immune responses. It is represented by various varieties (both in external characteristics and in functions) of leukocytes. The formation of these elements occurs in the lymph nodes, in the red bone marrow.
During a comprehensive blood test and its decoding, it is not the total number of leukocytes present that is estimated, but the leukocyte formula - the ratio of the various uniform elements of this group to their total number. The indicators are calculated not only in absolute units, but also in percentage terms. During the study, the laboratory technician can determine various index indicators of white blood.
During the decoding of a detailed clinical blood test, the following counts:
- Monocytes.
- Eosinophils.
- Bazofilov.
- Lymphocytes.
- Neutrophils.
- Myelocytes and metamyelocytes (in rare cases).
In the blood of newborns there are neutrophils in a fairly large amount. About 47-70% are segments, 3-13% are stab elements. Upon reaching two weeks of age, the concentration of stab elements in children's blood decreases to 1-5%. Most of them are contained in the bone marrow.
The concentration of the segments depends on the age of the child (indicated in percent):
- less than 2 weeks - 30-50;
- 2 weeks – 1 year - 16-45;
- from 1 year to 2 years - 25-48;
- from 2 to 5 years - 32-55;
- from 6 to 7 years old - 38-58;
- from 8 to 9 years old - 41-60;
- from 9 to 11 years old - 43-60;
- from 12 to 15 years old - 45-60.
An increase in the concentration of neutrophils occurs against the background of serious inflammatory processes (peritonitis, abscess, phlegmon), the growth of cancerous tumors, the use of immunostimulants, after vaccination, myocardial infarction, and infectious disease. A lack of neutrophils is observed after radiotherapy, chemotherapy, against the background of pathologies of the thyroid gland, flu, measles, chickenpox.
What else can deciphering a detailed biochemical blood test give us?
Lymphocytes
The second largest group of white blood cells are lymphocytes. Their tasks include humoral immune responses, cellular immunity. Normal lymphocyte counts are also dependent on the age of the child and are as follows:
- Up to 3 days - 15-35.
- Up to 14 days - 22-55.
- 2 weeks-1 year - 45-70.
- 1-2 years - 37-60.
- 2-5 years - 33-55.
- 6-9 years old - 30-50.
- 9-11 years old - 30-46.
- 12-15 years old - 30-40.
Lymphocytosis (increased concentration of lymphocytes) develops with toxoplasmosis, viral infections, acute respiratory viral infections, and blood diseases. Lymphocytopenia can be the result of radio wave therapy, chemotherapy, renal failure, some pathologies of the blood, AIDS, tuberculosis, terminal stages of cancer.
Basophils
Basophils are immune cells, the number of which is small in both adults and children. The normal content of basophils is considered to be 0-0.5, which is about 1%. Large amounts of basophils are found in compounds involved in the inflammation process. Thus, an increase in their concentration indicates the presence of a delayed immunological reaction.
Eosinophils
Eosinophils are shaped elements involved in the formation of humoral immunity. They fight toxins that are released in the body during any poisoning or cancer intoxication. Normal eosinophil concentrations are dependent on the age of the child:
- Up to 14 days - 1-6.
- from 14 days to 1 year - 1-5.
- from 1 to 2 years - 1-7.
- from 2 to 5 years - 1-6.
- from 6 to 15 years - 1-5.
The lack of eosinophils may be due to an inflammatory, purulent process, intoxication with salts of heavy metals. Redundancy can indicate a variety of pathologies - from allergies to cancer.
Monocytes
Monocytes are gigantic immune cells. If you rely on a quantitative ratio, then they contain a little in the blood. Monocytes - a kind of radar of the body, responsible for the recognition of foreign proteins that enter the bloodstream.
In children, normal monocyte counts are as follows:
- 0-3 days - 3-12;
- from 3 to 14 days - 5-15;
- 14 days-1 year - 4-10;
- from 1 to 2 years - 3-10;
- from 2 years - 3-9.
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