Ascp Practice Test

Front 1

Which blood component contains the most factor VIII concentration relative to the unit volume?

Back 1

Cryoprecipitated AHF

Front 2

What are some quantitative methods for the determination of albumin?

Back 2

Serum protein electrophoresis

Nephelometry

Colorimetric spectrophotometry

Front 3

A centromere that is located at the point where two chromosome arms are roughly EQUAL in length is called metacentric. T/F

Back 3

True

Front 4

HIV is known as a retrovirus because:

Back 4

RNA is used as the template for DNA synthesis.

Front 5

Metabolic acidosis is characterized by:

Back 5

Low pH

Front 6

An elevated level of which hormone will inhibit pituitary secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)?

Back 6

Cortisol

Front 7

In what way are the ABO serum antibodies unique among blood group systems?

Back 7

The antibodies are naturally occurring.

Front 8

The presence of only slightly visible hemolysis will significantly increase the serum level of which electrolyte?

Back 8

Potassium

Front 9

The hh genotype gives rise to:

Back 9

Bombay phenotype

Front 10

Delayed hemolytic transfusion reactions (DHTR) usually occur within which time period?

Back 10

3-10 days after transfusion

Front 11

The measurement of total glycosylated hemoglobin A1c is an effective means of assessing the average blood glucose levels...

Back 11

Over the past 2-3 months

Front 12

When the glucose result on a urine specimen from an infant is negative on the reagent strip, it can be assumed that the specimen is negative for other reducing substances such as galactose.

Back 12

False. The method used on the reagent strip is specific for glucose. An additional test, such as Clinitest, should be used to check for other reducing substances.

Front 13

What description describes the term "absolute value" as it would relate to differential counts.

Back 13

Relative % of each cell type X total white cell count

Front 14

Which drugs/drug classes is the MOST COMMON cause of drug-induced hemolytic anemia?

Back 14

Cephalosporins

Front 15

Prozone is usually found in:

Back 15

a patient sample in which the serum contains a high titer of antibody

Front 16

Describe a "rouleaux formation" of RBCs and what instances you would see them

Back 16

RBC's are linearly arranged simulating a stack of coins, RBC clumping associated with cold agglutinins (often IgM antibodies) is found in immune hemolytic anemias, in infections such as mycoplasma pneumonia, and in certain malignancies.

Front 17

Rouleaux formations are related to:

Back 17

Increased plasma proteins, primarily fibrinogen or globulins, is found on peripheral smears in monoclonal gammopathies as multiple myeloma or Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia.

Front 18

Which organs are sources of serum alkaline phosphatase?

Back 18

Liver

Placenta

Intestines

Front 19

Which bacteria is the MOST frequent cause of prosthetic heart valve infections occurring after heart surgery?

Back 19

Staphylococcus epidermidis

Front 20

Which condition is caused by deficient secretion of bilirubin into the bile canaliculi?

Back 20

Dubin-Johnson syndrome

Front 21

A urine specimen was collected at 6:00 a.m. and remained at room temperature until it was received in the laboratory at 3:30 p.m. How may the pH of the specimen be affected by the extended time at room temperature if bacteria are present in the specimen?

Back 21

The pH may become more alkaline.

Front 22

A deficiency in which vitamin leads to increased clotting time and may result in hemorrhagic disease?

Back 22

Vitamin K

Front 23

A phlebotomist who is performing venipuncture on a small delicate hand vein should choose a needle with a gauge number of 18. T/F

Back 23

False. The gauge of a needle indicates the diameter of the needle opening. A small delicate vein would require a higher gauge. Usually, a 23 gauge needle is recommended.

Front 24

What are some factors involved in the intrinisic pathway?

Back 24

Factors IX, XI, & XII

Front 25

In a normal CSF the protein concentration as compared to that in the serum is generally:

Back 25

Less than 1%

Front 26

What steps should be taken in the IMMEDIATE investigation of a potential hemolytic transfusion reaction?

Back 26

ABO and DAT on the post-transfusion patient sample

Check for a clerical error

Visual examination of the post-reaction and pre-reaction (if available) plasma for hemolysis

Front 27

What roles may be performed by a laboratory technologist in the processing of a bone marrow aspirate?

Back 27

Making smears (either at the patient bedside or in the laboratory) and staining the smears. In some laboratories, the technologist may also be responsible for performing the bone marrow differential count.

Front 28

Clostridium difficile

Back 28

Culture on appropriate media provides an effective means of recovering the organism.

Front 29

Mycobacterium fortuitum

Back 29

From a three-year-old female's ear drainage grew an acid fast bacillus that gave the following biochemical reactions:

Iron Uptake- Positive

Nitrate reduction- Positive

Arylsulfatase - Positive

MacConkey agar growth, 5 days- Positive

Front 30

A 300 µg dose of RhIg can suppress immunization to _____ mL of D-positive whole blood.

Back 30

30 mL

Front 31

What is the MOST common infective agent to be transmitted through blood transfusion that results in morbidity and mortality?

Back 31

Bacteria

Front 32

What must be true before a unit of Red Blood Cells that has been issued and returned can be reissued?

Back 32

The container has a tamper-proof seal and the seal remains unbroken.

Front 33

Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III), was published in 2001 and updated in 2004. The NCEP: ATP III includes criteria for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. What are they?

Back 33

Fasting blood glucose

Triglycerides

HDL-C

Front 34

In examining a Wright's stained blood smear of a patient who has had a splenectomy, one would most likely also find:

Back 34

Howell-Jolly bodies

Front 35

What are two conditions where an increased serum osmolality would be an expected finding?

Back 35

Dehydration

Diabetes Insipidus

Front 36

Which test included on a urine reagent strip would never be reported out as negative?

Back 36

Urobilinogen

Front 37

Endocytosis

Back 37

The process by which cells absorb molecules by engulfing them

Front 38

Exocytosis

Back 38

The process by which phagosomes are released by the cell to expel the macromolecules inside

Front 39

How does hemophilia A differ from hemophilia B?

Back 39

Factor VIII is deficient in hemophilia A

Factor IX is deficient in hemophilia B

Front 40

A patient who has a primarily vegetarian diet will most likely have an acid urine pH. T/F

Back 40

False. A patient who has a primarily vegetarian diet will most likely have an alkaline urine pH. A low-carbohydrate diet as well as the ingestion of citrus fruits can also lead to a more alkaline urine sample

Front 41

Which specimen collection method should NOT be used if urine cultures are also required?

Back 41

Routinely voided

Front 42

Which Enterobacteriaceae produces DiHydrogen Sulfide?

Back 42

Salmonelleae

Front 43

Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate

Back 43

Increased during inflammatory conditions

Can be used to follow the course of a disease

Highest values usually seen in Multiple Myeloma

Increased in rheumatoid conditions

Front 44

Which adipokine is decreased in obesity, is anti-inflammatory, and increases insulin sensitivity?

Back 44

Adiponectin

Front 45

Tumor markers are especially valuable when used to

Back 45

Monitor response to cancer therapy

Front 46

What is the largest constituent of plasma nonprotein nitrogen?

Back 46

Urea

Front 47

The general Glomerular Filtration Rate calculation:

Back 47

Urine creatinine / plasma creatinine x volume per minute = GFR (mL/min)

Front 48

A definitive diagnosis of malaria can be made by:

Back 48

Demonstration of the organisms in peripheral blood

Front 49

The parents’ blood types were AB and O. The blood group of any of their children could ONLY be what?

Back 49

Group A or B only

Front 50

A beta-hemolytic gram-positive coccus, isolated from the CSF of an infant, grew on sheep blood agar under aerobic conditions and was resistant to a bacitracin disc. Which test should be performed for the presumptive identification of the organism?

Back 50

CAMP test

Front 51

In a HPV infection, where does the viral DNA replicate?

Back 51

Squamous epithelial cells

Front 52

A HbA1C result for a diabetic patient is 6.0%. What conclusion can be made regarding this patient's carbohydrate management?

Back 52

The patient is compliant with diet and medication.

Front 53

What is the corrected WBC if a differential count shows 20 nucleated erythrocytes per 100 leukocytes and the uncorrected leukocyte count is 12,000/ mm3?

Back 53

10,000/ mm3

Front 54

The term "analytical specificity" refers to:

Back 54

The ability to measure only that substance being assayed

Front 55

Adult Ascaris lumbricoides worms live where?

Back 55

Small Intestines

Front 56

New Methylene Blue works by what mechanism?

Back 56

Staining cytoplasmic RNA, mitochondria, and ribosomes

Front 57

What type of follow-up testing is recommended for a Speckled ANA pattern?

Back 57

Testing for antibodies to the extractable nuclear antigens (ENA)

Front 58

What type of follow-up testing is recommended for a Homogenous ANA pattern?

Back 58

Testing for antibodies to dsDNA

Front 59

Fetal lung maturity can be determined from amniotic fluid because the surfactant is PRIMARILY composed of:

Back 59

Phosphatidylcholine and other phospholipids

Front 60

Bacillus anthracis

Back 60

Large, gram-positive rods with square ends in short chains

Front 61

Yersinia pestis

Back 61

Gram-negative rods demonstrating bipolar staining

Front 62

Francisella tularensis

Back 62

Very tiny, pale staining, gram-negative coccobacillus; often difficult to see individual cells

Front 63

Brucella species

Back 63

Small, gram-negative coccobacilli that appear gram-positive due to retention of crystal violet stain; individual cells present

Front 64

When a few small, purple inclusions are found in erythrocytes, they can be confirmed as containing iron by:

Back 64

performing a Prussian blue stain

Front 65

Which organism will give a positive coagulase test:

Back 65

Staphylococcus aureus

Front 66

Using an automated cell counter analyzer, an increased Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW) should correlate with:

Back 66

Anisocytosis

Front 67

A group A Rh positive infant born to a group O Rh negative woman has a 1+ positive DAT. The mother had a negative antibody screen at delivery and received antenatal RhIg.

What are some possible causes of the newborn's positive DAT?

Back 67

Anti-A

Passive anti-D

Antibody to a low frequency antigen

Front 68

Which WBC is generally the most abundant normal WBC seen in the adult peripheral blood?

Back 68

Segmented neutrophil

Front 69

The McLeod phenotype is associated with which antigen system?

Back 69

Kell

Front 70

Precursor to the ABO antigens.

Back 70

H antigen

Front 71

Which nitrogen base would bind with a guanine nucleotide in forming double-stranded DNA?

Back 71

Cytosine

Front 72

A test that can be used as a confirmatory test for urobilinogen

Back 72

Watson-Schwartz Test

Front 73

An accurate observation about osmotic pressure is that it is:

Back 73

Proportional to concentration of solute particles

Front 74

Osmolality is measurable by:

Back 74

How much it depresses the freezing point of samples.

Front 75

What percentage of glycerol is generally used when freezing red cells of rare phenotypes?

Back 75

40%

Front 76

Which risk marker has both positive and negative cardiovascular risk integrated into its measurement?

Back 76

ApoB/ApoA1

Front 77

What are some characteristics of casts?

Back 77

Cylindrical bodies

Contain Tamm-Horsfall mucoprotein

Formed in either the distal convoluted tubules or the collecting ducts of the kidney

Front 78

Can cause increased hemoglobin results on automated hematology analyzers since the hemoglobin measurement is performed spectrophotometrically. Causes a more turbid sample, leading to a falsely high reading during the hemoglobin determination.

Back 78

Lipemia

Front 79

May be seen in conditions such as lead poisoning & thalassemia

Back 79

Basophilic stippling

Front 80

A drug that is readily cleared and has a wide therapeutic window, such as ampicillin, should always be monitored by TDM. T/F

Back 80

False. Drugs that have a very narrow therapeutic window need to be monitored by TDM

Front 81

What is the most prudent step to follow to select units for cross-match after recipient antibodies have been IDENTIFIED?

Back 81

Antigen type patient cells and any donor cells to be cross-matched

Front 82

Paragonimus westermani

Back 82

The only fluke egg known to be found in human sputum

Front 83

The gametocytes of Plasmodium falciparum

Back 83

The only malarial organisms that assume a characteristic banana shape

Front 84

Why are ANA positive samples titered?

Back 84

To determine how much antibody is present in the sample

To look for multiple ANA patterns

Front 85

The time needed for the retention of laboratory records is NOT defined by regulation and law, but is dependent upon the needs of each laboratory. T/F

Back 85

False. Usually the state or city will mandate the length of time that records must be kept

Front 86

A disease likely to show a homogenous pattern in an immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy test for ANA?

Back 86

SLE

Front 87

Avidity

Back 87

The strength of attraction between a single antigenic determinant and a corresponding antigen binding site

Front 88

Diagram of a spectrophotometer

Back 88

Light source

Monochromator

Cuvette

Detector

Readout

Front 89

IgG - IgM

Back 89

Fixes complement via classical pathway

Front 90

IgM

Back 90

Largest antibody

Pentamer

Front 91

IgG

Back 91

Crosses placental barrier

Front 92

IgE

Back 92

Immediate hypersensitivity

Front 93

Bacillus cereus

Back 93

Produces spores only under aerobic (not anaerobic) conditions

Front 94

Clostridium perfringens

Back 94

Virtually never produces spores in clinical infections

Front 95

What is not usually increased in alpha thalassemia?

Back 95

Iron binding capacity