Giant platelets on the Technicon H6000.

The presence of "giant" platelets in peripheral circulating blood can be associated with many hematologic disorders. With an automated cell-counting instrument such as the Technicon H6000, the presence of abnormally large platelets can be detected by examination of the leukocyte X-Y display of the peroxidase channel. When an abnormal pattern is discovered, the patient's blood can then be examined by preparation of a blood smear to confirm the presence of giant platelets. This can be a beneficial and efficient screening of routine complete blood counts for the possible presence of many hematologic disorders using this automated cell-counting instrument in the hematology laboratory.