Hemolysis

Hemolysis (alternative spelling haemolysis) is the excessive breakdown of red blood cells. When this happens, it may cause a form of anemia.

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Hemolysis is an important factor in medical tests, as a blood sample may become hemolysed with prolonged storage or when complications arise during venipuncture. For example, when a blood sample is collected, hemolysis is rare when the collection is straightforward. On occasions when a patient's veins are uncooperative (such as collapsing under the pull of a vacuum from a syringe or a modern vacuum tube), the problem becomes more prevalent. The red cells in the blood are literally smashed on their way through the needle, often due to excessive suction. This results in a poor sample. Hemolysis may cause interference with the test results for a patient, but this is mostly limited to biochemistry tests.

Red blood cell: Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and are the vertebrate body's principal means of delivering oxygen from the lungs or gills to body tissues via the blood....

Anemia: Anemia (American English) or anaemia (Commonwealth English), which literally means "without blood," is a deficiency of red blood cells and/or hemoglobin. This results in a reduced ability of blood to transfer oxygen to the tissues. Hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein in the red blood cells) has...

Blood: Blood is a circulating tissue composed of fluid plasma and cells (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets). Medical terms related to blood often begin in hemo- or hemato- (BE: haemo- and haemato-) from the Greek word "haima" for "blood"....