Haematology

New Specialist Consultation, coordinated by Doctor Roger Oliveira. 

A physician, specialist in Haematology may work both as a Physician in Haematology (out-patient consultations and in-patient department), in General Haematology, Haematology-Oncology, Thrombosis, Haemostasis, Blood Transfusion Medicine (blood donors, blood processing and its components) and also in a diagnostic laboratory in hematologic diseases.

Blood is made up of liquid (plasma) and cells (erythrocytes or red blood cells, platelets and leukocytes or white blood cells). 

Plasma contains protein that among other functions, act as the body’s defence mechanism helping to control haemorrhaging.  The red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body and the platelets control bleeding.  Leukocytes fight infections.

Haematology studies diseases that involve the hematopoietic system, i.e. tissue and organs responsible for the proliferation, maintenance and destructions of blood cells (bone marrow, spleen and lymph nodes), as well as coagulation disorders involving plasma cells. 

The three major groups of blood disorders are anaemia, coagulation disorders and proliferative and infiltrative diseases such as leukaemia or lymphoma.

The main analysis in Haematology is the Hemogram Test or CBC (Complete Blood Count), which identifies the three most common diseases of the blood:

• Alterations in the red blood cells which may result in either low values known as anaemia, or high values known as  polycythemia;
• Alterations of the white blood cells which may be the result of a great number of diseases, one of them being leukaemia;
• Alterations of the blood platelets are more common when the results show lower values. This may represent a risk of spontaneous bleeding or haemorrhaging and are part of a group of diseases known as “coagulation disorders”, the most common being “Purpura” Disease.