hematocrit in neonates - Sports Zone
When a newborn has polycythemia, it means they have too many red blood cells. A doctor typically diagnoses polycythemia using a hematocrit test. Polycythemia can lead to thickening of the blood and ...
Understanding the Context
A hematocrit test is a simple blood test that measures the percentage of red blood cells in your blood. Red blood cells are important because they carry oxygen throughout your body. The hematocrit (HCT) test shows how much of your blood is made up of red blood cells. A high or low result on an HCT test can help point to health problems like anemia or a blood-related cancer.
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What is the hematocrit? The hematocrit is the proportion, by volume, of the blood that consists of red blood cells. The hematocrit (hct) is expressed as a percentage. For example, a hematocrit of 25% means that there are 25 milliliters of red blood cells in 100 milliliters of blood. Hematocrit tests check the percentage of red blood cells in your blood.
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Learn how and why this test is done and what the results might mean. A hematocrit test can help your health care team make a diagnosis or monitor how you respond to a treatment. The test is done as part of a complete blood count (CBC). The hematocrit test indicates the percentage of blood by volume that is composed of red blood cells. The condition called "anemia" results from having too few red blood cells. Anemia causes a variety of symptoms.
The hematocrit is a basic test that can tell a physician a lot about a person's health. Because the purpose of red blood cells is to transfer oxygen from the lungs to body tissues, a blood sample's hematocrit—the red blood cell volume percentage—can become a point of reference of its capability of delivering oxygen.