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Complete blood count
Also known as CBC, Full blood count, FBC, Blood CP
A complete blood count measures the three families of cell in blood: red cells that carry oxygen, white cells that fight infection, and platelets that clot. It is the commonest blood test ordered anywhere and the usual first step in tiredness, fever, bruising or bleeding.
One small tube of blood, taken from a vein with no fasting required, is run through an analyser that counts and sizes every cell in it. The report comes back as a column of abbreviations, and it is worth knowing what the important ones stand for, because the pattern across them says far more than any single line.
What the numbers mean
| Line | What it measures | Typical adult range |
|---|---|---|
| (Hb) | Oxygen-carrying pigment; low means | 13.0–17.0 g/dL in men, 12.0–15.0 g/dL in women |
| MCV | Average red cell size, which points at the cause of anaemia | 80–100 femtolitres |
| count (WBC or TLC) | Infection-fighting cells; the differential splits them by type | 4,000–11,000 per microlitre |
| count | Clotting fragments; falls in dengue and in some marrow disorders | 150,000–400,000 per microlitre |
A single value slightly outside a range is common and often means nothing; reference ranges are drawn so that one healthy person in twenty falls outside them by definition. What matters is the size of the deviation, the pattern across the lines, the trend against previous results, and the symptoms the person came with. In dengue season the platelet trend, taken with the haematocrit, is watched daily and matters far more than any single count.
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Related terms
- HaemoglobinHemoglobin, HbHaemoglobin is the iron-containing protein inside red blood cells that binds oxygen in the lungs and releases it to the tissues. Its concentration in blood is the number used to diagnose anaemia.
- PlateletThrombocyte, PLTPlatelets are the smallest cells in blood and their job is clotting — they clump at the site of an injury and form the initial plug that stops bleeding. A platelet count is part of a standard blood test.
- White blood cellLeucocyte, WBCWhite blood cells are the immune system's cells in the bloodstream, and their job is fighting infection. The count and the mix of types are reported in a full blood count.
- AnaemiaAnemia, Low haemoglobinAnaemia means the blood carries less haemoglobin than it should, so less oxygen reaches the tissues. It usually shows itself as tiredness, breathlessness on exertion and pallor, and in Pakistan the commonest cause by a wide margin is a shortage of iron.