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Complete Blood Count (CBC)
Results
A complete blood count (CBC) gives
important information about the kinds and numbers of cells in the blood,
especially
red blood cells
,
white blood cells, and
platelets. A CBC helps your health professional check
any symptoms, such as weakness, fatigue, or bruising, you may have. A CBC also
helps him or her diagnose conditions, such as
anemia, infection, and many other disorders.
Normal
Normal values can vary from lab to lab.
Normal values for the complete blood count (CBC) tests depend on age, sex, how high above sea level you live, and the type of blood sample. Your health professional may use all the CBC values to check for a condition. For example, the red blood cell (RBC) count, hemoglobin (Hgb), and hematocrit (HCT) are the most important values needed to tell whether a person has anemia, but the red blood cell indices and the blood smear also help with the diagnosis and may show a possible cause for the anemia.
To see if the white blood cell (WBC, leukocyte) count is good and how the cells look on the smear, your health professional will look at both the number (WBC count) and the WBC differential. To see whether there are too many or too few of a certain type of cell, your health professional will look at the total count and the percentage of that particular cell. There are normal values for the total number of each type of white cell.
Pregnancy can change these blood values. Your doctor will talk with you about normal values during each trimester of your pregnancy.
| Men and nonpregnant women: |
4,500–11,000/mcL3 or 4.5–11.0 x 109 /liter (SI units) |
|---|---|
| Pregnant women: |
1st trimester: 6,600–14,100/mcL or 6.6–14.1 x 109 /L 2nd trimester: 6,900–17,100/mcL or 6.9–17.1 x 109 /L 3rd trimester: 5,900–14,700/mcL or 5.9–14.7 x 109 /L Postpartum: 9,700–25,700/mcL or 9.7–25.7 x 109 /L |
| Neutrophils: |
50%–62% |
|---|---|
| Band neutrophils: |
3%–6% |
| Lymphocytes: |
25%–40% |
| Monocytes: |
3%–7% |
| Eosinophils: |
0%–3% |
| Basophils: |
0%–1% |
| Men: |
4.7–6.1 million RBCs per microliter (mcL) or 4.7–6.1 x 1012 /liter (SI units) |
|---|---|
| Women: |
4.2–5.4 million RBCs per mcL or 4.2–5.4 x 1012 /L |
| Children: |
4.0–5.5 million RBCs per mcL or 4.6–4.8 x 1012 /L |
| Newborn: |
4.8–7.1 million RBCs per mcL or 4.8–7.1 x 1012 /L |
WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
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