HOW DIGITAL CYTOLOGY IS CHANGING THE GAME FOR HEMATOLOGY SCOPIOVET (continued)
2 HOW DIGITAL CYTOLOGY IS CHANGING THE GAME FOR HEMATOLOGY When it comes to a clinical pathologist’s review of a blood smear, digital cytology creates a 4th, “best of all worlds” option. When the clinical situation or CBC results indicate that a blood smear review is necessary, a clinical pathologist can read the blood smear right away. With digital cytology, you are now able to get the full picture that hematology can provide, all at the point of care, while the patient is still in the hospital. Digital cytology is an emerging technology that allows you to scan and submit microscopy cases to a global community of veterinary clinical pathologists, who are standing by 24/7/365 to provide an interpretation in minutes. Those who have heard of digital cytology often think about it exclusively for the review of Fine Needles Aspirates and other cytologic cases. In doing so, they ignore the impact digital is having on the world of hematology. 3 SO WHEN IS A PATH REVIEW OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD NECESSARY? We know what you’re thinking: not every case needs a blood smear review, so how do you know when is a good time to make a smear and scan it for a pathologist’s review? While we wouldn’t dare dispute the scientific expertise and time honored traditions of the veterinary community, we humbly offer basic and actionable criteria that help determine when a path review for blood can add the most value to the veterinary workflow.
Photo courtesy of ScopioVet
of a clinical pathologist. On the other hand, the clinical pathologist doesn’t frequently find herself interpreting an urgent case. Our interview revealed a surprisingly kindred interest and mutual admiration between these medical counterparts, as they share stories of the emerging interactions between them. Dr. Kavit Manro, Co-Founder of Voo Veterinary Group in London, appreciates how clinical pathologists help solve hematologic mysteries: “Sometimes the clues from the CBC don’t add up to the clinical situation, and the clinical pathologist can either set my mind at ease and give me confidence the CBC is right, or they can prove the CBC wrong. I just need more information in order to make the correct judgment – often in life or death situations.” He continued: “Being able to say to a client within a few hours there is a diagnosis and it’s a very serious one – that immediately puts you on the path to take the right steps. (continued)
If you’re doing a lot of point of care hematology, look for the following subset of cases, based on the CBC result or patient signalment:
Sick Patient Normal CBC Values
Sick Patient Abnormal CBC Value
Geriatric Patient
Healthy Patient Abnormal CBC Values
4 A TAIL OF TWO CBCS Recently, we interviewed two dynamic practitioners from both sides of the digital cytology relationship (submitter and interpreter). On the one hand, because rapid interpretation hasn’t traditionally been available in urgent care, the ER veterinarian has historically had to do without the input
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