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Old Wed May 26, 2010, 12:18 PM
Neil Cuadra Neil Cuadra is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Los Angeles, California
Posts: 2,553
I'm glad your Dad has had some improvement.

Basophils are a normal type of white blood cell, usually 0 to 2% of circulating blood. They destroy invading bacteria and viruses. Your Dad's basophils (3%) are only slightly elevated, which is not uncommon with bone marrow problems and can also result from an infection, an allergic reaction, or from drugs he's been given. From your Dad's differential leucocyte counts, I compute his absolute neutrophil count as 1140 ("mild neutropenia").

Yes, blast percentage is one of the results of a bone marrow biopsy and aspirate. Another result is his cytogenetics: a study of his chromosomes. Did they give you cytogenetic results? Those results and blood counts are used for MDS classification. By the numbers your Dad would seem to be in the "Intermediate Risk 1" category but his combination of symptoms make clear why it's hard for you and your Dad's doctors to know whether to use other treatments.
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