Common indication and recommendations for peripheral smear review
| Clinical indications | PBS review approval | Additional recommendation |
| Myelodysplastic syndrome | Yes | Recommend molecular studies |
| Pseudothrombocytopaenia | Yes | Alternatively, resend CBC in citrate |
| Malaria | Yes | Order thick and thin smears to microbiology lab |
| Microcytic/normocytic anaemia | Per discussion | Iron studies, reticulocyte count |
| Leukaemia/lymphoma | Yes | Flow cytometry |
| Thalassaemia | No | Mentzer index, previous CBC values, HPLC |
| Haemolysis/RBC membrane disorder | Yes | Order stat red blood cell morphology test |
At our institution, PBS review are concurrently performed for all flow cytometry, bone marrow biopsy and HPLC orders.
CBC, complete blood count; HPLC, high performance liquid chromatography; PBS, peripheral blood smear; RBC, red blood cell.