What is the use of Westergren tube?
ESR tubes measure the rate at which red blood cells settle out of plasma. Westergren sedimentation rate tubes may be used for the standard procedure, by drawing blood in a liquid sodium citrate vacuum tube, or the modified procedure, using a saline-diluted EDTA vacuum tube.
What is Westergren method?
[ wĕs′tər-grĕn′, vĕs′- ] n. A method for estimating the sedimentation rate of red blood cells in whole blood by mixing venous blood with an aqueous solution of sodium citrate and allowing the mixture to stand in an upright standard pipet and, after one hour, reading the millimeters the cells have descended.
What are the factors upon which ESR is dependent?
ESR varies greatly with age and sex, and corresponding reference values are proposed. Lifestyle factors (physical activity, smoking, and alcohol consumption) and common metabolic abnormalities (obesity and related metabolic syndrome) may also influence ESR values.
What is the clinical significance of ESR?
An ESR test can help determine if you have a condition that causes inflammation. These include arthritis, vasculitis, or inflammatory bowel disease. An ESR may also be used to monitor an existing condition.
What is the difference between Wintrobe and Westergren tube?
Wintrobe method: The Wintrobe method is performed similarly except that the Wintrobe tube is smaller in diameter than the Westergren tube and only 100 mm long. EDTA anticoagulated blood without extra diluent is drawn into the tube, and the rate of fall of red blood cells is measured in millimeters after 1 hour.
What is the function of sodium citrate in ESR?
The Sediplast Westergren and Streck methods use citrate as an anticoagulant, which results in dilution of blood and should correct the ESR owing to higher hematocrit values.
Which anticoagulant is used in Westergren method?
citrate
The Westergren method uses citrate, a liquid-based anticoagulant, resulting in dilution of blood, inaccuracies of which significantly affect the ESR. Modifications of the reference method, also called the modified Westergren method, are also widely used and use EDTA in place of citrate as an anticoagulant.
Why ESR is higher in females?
Females had higher ESR values than males which agree with earlier report by (Saadeh, 1998). The reason for this increase may be due to some physiological changes that occur in females like menstruation.
What is the principle of ESR?
PRINCIPLE: The Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) is a nonspecific assay used to screen for the presence or absence of active disease. The settling of red corpuscles (red blood cells – RBCs) is due to the differential densities of the RBCs and their medium.
Can high ESR cause death?
They found significant associations between high ESR and overall mortality, cancer mortality, and cardiovascular disease mortality. In addition, there were nonsignificant associations between high ESR and other causes of death, such as those related to the use of alcohol or drugs.
Why is Westergren reference method?
The objective of ESR testing is to measure inflammability state. The Westergren method measures both infections related to infectious diseases and chronic inflammatory conditions.