April 28 2014

Medical Monday: Hemolysis

Hemolysis is defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as, the “breakdown or destruction of red blood cells so that the contained hemoglobin is freed into the surrounding medium…Apart from normal breakdown of aged red blood cells, hemolysis is abnormal in the living but may be caused by inherited defects in the blood cells, by chemicals, venoms, the toxic products of microorganisms, transfusion of the wrong blood type, or Rh incompatibility of fetal and maternal blood…Hemolysis may be produced in the laboratory by various physical agents (heat, freezing, flooding with water, sound). In certain situations it is used as a specific laboratory test for antigen–antibody reactions.”