Nucleated red blood cells (per 100 WBC)
What it measures, and what changes the number.
Nucleated red blood cells are immature red cells that still carry a nucleus and usually stay in the bone marrow until they mature. This line expresses how many are seen relative to the number of white blood cells counted, which is the traditional way of reporting them from a blood smear.
It appears in the complete blood count alongside the absolute nucleated red cell count and the total white blood cell count, and is interpreted together with red cell measures such as hemoglobin and reticulocytes. Because these cells can be counted by older methods as white cells, analysers use this figure to correct the white cell result.
Values can differ between automated analysers and manual smear review. Labs may print it simply as Eritroblastes.
Often read alongside: Nucleated red blood cells (absolute), White blood cells, Reticulocytes, Hemoglobin, Red blood cells