Reticulocyte Count
Assay |
Reticulocyte Count |
Key Words |
Reticulocyte, Retic |
Specimen Collection |
3.4ml EDTA (Red lid). 1.3ml EDTA for paediatric (Red lid), do not overfill. Carried out on the Full Blood Count specimen. Reticulocyte counts may be added on to samples that are up to 48 hours old, but some sequential tests may not be possible at this point - samples should ideally be less than 24 hours old. |
Turnaround time |
Next working day |
Test indications |
Investigation of haemolysis, aplastic anaemia, haematinic deficiency |
Interferences |
Samples over 2 days old and samples with Howell-Jolly bodies may give falsely elevated results. |
Reference Range |
See table below. Reference ranges established in-house from local population. |
Minimum retesting interval |
N/A |
TEST |
AGE |
RANGE |
UNITS |
Absolute reticulocyte count |
0 - 1 Day |
50-350 |
109/L |
1 - 7 Days |
26-300 |
109/L |
|
1 - 8 Weeks |
26-150 |
109/L |
|
>8 Weeks |
23-81 |
109/L |
|
Reticulocyte haemoglobin equivalent (Ret-He) |
All |
28-35 |
pg |