NRBC count

[KimO]

My daughter's counts posted today included an NRBC count of 1/100 WBC. In researching what that means it apparently can be an indication of leukemia. There are lots of less threatening reasons as well but one article seemed to indicate that it is rare to see this in aplastic anemia. Has anybody else had an NRBC (Nucleated Red Blood Cell, also called normoblast) greater than 0? The good news is that Hgb and platelets held steady from last week and neutrophils increased from .6 to .9 so I was doing a happy dance about the cyclosporine perhaps working until I saw the new number. Just wondering how freaked out I should be about the possibility that the relapse has been caused by a progression to something worse.

[Laura]

I frequently had NRBC's on my labs too. I was told that because the marrow is so stressed out and trying to send RBC's out. It can sometimes send immature red blood cells out (NRBC). I was told this was nothing to worry about since they were so few and because of what I stated above. I hope this helps! Awesome on the .9!

Laura

[Chirley]

Hi,

I've had them too. I was told it just shows bone marrow stress. The main problem with them is having them but not testing for them as because they have nuclii they can seem to be white cells on automatic machines and falsely increase the WCC.

[KimO]

Thank you so much for the quick replies. Apparently Shauna's doc said the same thing when she went in this afternoon and it's even better to have confirmation from multiple sources. It's a good thing she's got a few extra neuts because apparently she has a sore throat now. They put her on antibiotics as a precaution. It's really hard having her 300 miles away in this situation!!