BackgroundThe health of an individual is known to vary in different countries, in the same country at different times, and in the same individuals at different ages. This means that the condition of individuals must be related to or compared with reference data. Determination of a reference range for the healthy term newborn is clinically important in terms of various complete blood count parameters. The purpose of this study was to establish a local reference range for full blood count parameters in neonatal cord plasma in Hilla, Babil, Iraq.MethodsA total of 220 mothers and their neonates were enrolled in this cross-sectional study from February 2011 to January 2012. Maternal inclusion criteria were age 15–45 years, an uneventful pregnancy, and hemoglobin ≥ 10 g. Neonatal inclusion criteria were full term (37–42 weeks) and normal birth weight. The umbilical cord was immediately clamped after delivery of the baby; 3 mL of cord blood was then taken from the umbilical vein and collected in a tube containing ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid, its plasma was analyzed for full blood count parameters by standard Coulter gram, and the differential leukocyte count was done manually.ResultsMean neonatal hemoglobin was 13.88 ± 1.34 (range 11–17.3) g/dL and mean white cell count was 10.12 ± 2.8 (range 3.1–21.6) × 109/L. Mean platelet count was 267.63 ± 60.62 (range 152–472) × 109/L. No significant differences in red cell, white cell, or platelet counts were found between males and females, except for neutrophil count. The current study shows lower levels of hemoglobin, white cells, and red cells compared with other studies, and there is agreement with some studies and disagreement with others concerning platelet count.ConclusionMost results in the current study were within the reference range. The hematological reference values for Iraqi neonatal cord plasma need to be confirmed by larger numbers of blood samples and by collecting samples from different areas in Iraq.

Background: Thrombocytosis is divided into primary and secondary forms. Secondary form is common in children and associated with many conditions as infections, anemia, malignancy, inflammation, hyposplenism and tissue damage. Bacterial or viral infections (acute or chronic) are the most common cause for secondary thrombocytosis at any age during childhood. Objective: To study the role of thrombocytosis in the diagnosis of asthma and pneumonia. A total of 460 children were enrolled in this case-control study Children were categorized into 3 groups, asthma group which included 108 children, pneumonia group which included 262 children and control group which included 90 children. Exclusion criteria were anemia, recent surgery, acute blood loss, malignancy, connective tissue diseases and mixed cases of asthma and pneumonia. Mean platelet count in the pneumonia group was 374000/mm3 and percentage of children with thrombocytosis was 33%. Mean platelet count in the asthma group was 272000/mm3 and percentage of children with thrombocytosis was 13%. Mean platelet count in the control group was 265000/mm3 and percentage of children with thrombocytosis was 11.1%. Mean platelet count in pneumonia group was significantly higher than asthma group (p value<0.01) and control group (p value<0.01).