Mr. White developed neutropenia as a consequence of cancer chemotherapy, which destroyed much of his bone marrow. What other components of the immune system would be harmed by bone marrow destruction? Would you expect his hematocrit to be elevated or decreased? What effects would you expect to see from this change in hematocrit? (Connects to Chapter 19)

Video transcript

Hi, everyone. Let's take a look at this practice problem together, Mister Reed's chemotherapy treatment resulted in bone marrow destruction. How would the damage to the bone marrow affect his hematocrit levels? The answer options are a elevate B reduce C no change and D can either elevate or reduce. So, recall that bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside of our bones. Healthy bone marrow is the site where red blood cells, white blood cells and other blood elements are made. So how is bone marrow associated with hematocrit levels? Recall that hematocrit is the volume percentage of red blood cells in the blood and bone marrow produces red blood cells. Now, for Mr Ray, his chemotherapy resulted in bone marrow destruction, which means that there is decreased blood cell production from the bone marrow. Decreased blood cell production means that there is an overall decreased blood cell count in the blood. Therefore, the hematocrit levels would also be decreased. The correct answer choice is option B reduce. All right, everyone. I hope you found this helpful and I'll see you soon for the next practice problem.