Is it possible to over pack a PCV?
I’m not a vet tech but I have worked in labs and am currently a vet receptionist. My dog went to the ER a week ago Sunday for anemia. Her PCV was 21.4 but there were also spherocytes. That vet suspected AIHA early onset and said follow up with my vet (my boss). We could start prednisone because my dog had been on carprofen up to the day before - washout period.
Side note: I thought my dog’s bms were very dark for quite some time but the day we went to the ER her stool was ordinary brown.
We did a Coombs the next day and it came back negative.
On Wednesday we repeated labs at work and her PCV was 25, and other numbers were a little better than at the ER. My boss suspected a bleeding ulcer. With her off carprofen and still in the washout period, we opted to treat for a bleeding ulcer with sucralfate and omeprazole and redo her PVC Monday, today.
Now the weird part. She and techs are out of town so we’re flying solo. I drew my dog’s blood this morning, put in a purple top tube, and ran the PVC myself. Hadn’t done it before. The centrifuge is specifically for micro capillary tubes and goes up to 15 minutes. My boss said 10 or 15 minutes so I did 15. Four tubes each came out at 19, much worse!
So, in desperation I ask: Is it possible to over-spin a PCV and end up with an inaccurately low %? I’m not sure of the RPMs of this centrifuge.
We started my dog on pred tonight.