Kleines Blutbild

A kleines Blutbild is the standard basic blood count, and it is part of almost every routine blood test at a German practice. It contains eight values, and all eight of them describe blood cells.

Each of the eight values measures something different:

• Erythrozyten are your red blood cells, counted per volume of blood.
• Hämoglobin is the red pigment inside those cells that binds oxygen.
• Hämatokrit is the share of your blood made up of cells.
• MCV describes the average size of a single red blood cell.
• MCH describes how much haemoglobin one red blood cell contains.
• MCHC describes the haemoglobin concentration inside the red cells themselves.
• Thrombozyten are your platelets, which are the cells that seal wounds.
• Leukozyten are all your white blood cells counted as one total.

Doctors order it as a first look at anaemia, infections or clotting questions. If the white cell total looks unusual, the next step is often the Differentialblutbild, which splits the white cells into their five types, and both tests together make the großes Blutbild.

Like the big version, a kleines Blutbild only measures cells, so cholesterol, blood sugar, vitamins, hormones and organ values are separate tests. Each value comes with a Referenzbereich from the laboratory, and single small deviations are common and usually harmless.