The staff of the hematology laboratory is pleased to announce that as of August 25, 2008, there will be new and improved hematology instruments in our laboratory. We now have state-of-the-art equipment with added automation which should improve our turn-around-times for CBCs and differentials. In addition there will be some slight changes in the CBC and WBC results.

1. The RDW (red cell distribution width) will be reported in two ways. The RDW-CV, as it was reported in the past, and the RDW-SD. The latter result correlates better to the actual RBC size dispersion and is not affected by the MCV. The normal range is 36.4 - 46.3 fL for males and 35.1 - 43.9 fL for females.

2. A mean platelet volume (MPV) will be reported which is a measure of the average size of the platelets. The normal range is 9.4 - 12.9 fL.

3. LUC (Large Unclassified Cells) will no longer be reported.

4. A new parameter IG (Immature Granulocytes) will be reported which is an automated quantitative measure of metamyelocytes, myelocytes and promyelocytes.