packed cell volume
- noun
- Specialized
- The doctor explained that the packed cell volume helps determine the proportion of red blood cells in the blood.
Examples
-
Haematological monitoring must include measurement of haemoglobin, packed-cell volume, and complete blood counts with differentials after 1, 2, and 3 months of treatment and then every 3 months.
Academic text (2000) -
Few patients (9.6%) were transfused preoperatively, in accordance with the preoperative packed cell volume or hemoglobin (Table 1).
Academic text (1999) -
The blood finished spinning, and I checked the packed cell volume and total protein.
Fiction book (1998) -
The changes in packed cell volume were similar to those in hemoglobin.
Academic text (1994) -
Though the numbers are small, there was no evidence of any vaccine effect on the parasite densities, spleen rates, or packed-cell volume.
Academic text (2000) -
The frequency and amount of blood used, as well as preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin concentrations and packed cell volume used, were similar in both transfused groups (Table 5).
Academic text (1999) -
The bleeding diathesis is typically mild and, if problematic, can usually be controlled by correction of packed cell volume and treatment with desmopressin, oestrogen, cryoprecipitate, and/or intensive dialysis.
Academic text (1995) -
After the centrifugation process, we measured the packed cell volume to assess the patient's blood condition.
-
Monitoring the packed cell volume is essential during treatment to ensure the patient maintains adequate red blood cell levels.
Synonyms
The percentage of blood that is red blood cells
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'packed' + 'cell' + 'volume' combine in a logically compositional way to suggest the amount of space occupied by cells, so a learner could guess it refers to how much volume cells take up. However, the term is a specific medical measurement (hematocrit, a ratio of red blood cell volume to whole blood) and that precise technical sense and usage is specialist knowledge not fully predictable for a B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The term packed cell volume comes from a simple lab picture: blood is spun so the red cells become tightly packed at the bottom of a tube, and the volume of those cells is measured. So, it means the 'part' of the blood made of 'red blood cells'.