Osmotic gradient ektacytometric profiles of HS and AIHA blood samples.
The deformability profiles of 4 HS blood samples (left panel) and 7 AIHA blood samples (right panel) are shown. The deformability profile of a representative normal blood sample (thick line) is shown in both panels. DImax, the maximum deformability index, is a measure of red cell surface area; Omin, the osmolality at which the deformability value reaches a minimum in the hypotonic region is a measure of red cell osmotic fragility; and O', the osmolality in the hypertonic region where the deformability index value is half the DImax value is a measure of red cell hydration status. The osmotic gradient ektacytometric profiles of HS and AIHA samples (thin lines) are very similar with variable extents of decreased DImax. In both HS and AIHA, Omin values may be either normal (dashed thin lines) or increased (solid and dotted thin lines) while O' values could be either normal (dotted thin lines) or decreased (solid and dashed thin lines).
