Hematologic Diseases.

Hematopoiesis is continuous, adaptive, and capable of responding to metabolic, infectious, and inflammatory challenges. Red blood cells (RBCs) are made up mostly of hemoglobin, a metalloprotein composed of heme and globin groups. Primary erythrocytosis is a condition in which the erythropoietic compartment of the bone marrow leads to increased red cell production. There are several broad causes of anemias, which can be due to impaired production of the RBC, accelerated destruction, consumption or loss of RBCs due to morphologic changes, reduced protein stability, and factors extrinsic to the RBC. White blood cells (WBCs) are composed of granulocytes and agranulocytes. WBC disorders can be either quantitative or qualitative in nature. The chapter provides an overview of the most common WBC disorders encountered in a hospital-based oral medicine practice. Elevated WBC counts typically reflect a normal response to infection or inflammation and usually represent an increase in the number of neutrophils.