Evaluate erythropoietic activity which is increased in acute and chronic hemorrhage, and hemolytic anemias; evaluate erythropoietic response to antianemic therapy.
Caution should be exercised with recently transfused patients (reticulocytes may decrease on a dilutional basis due to transfusion).
Reticulocytes stained with a fluorescent reagent can be differentiated from mature red cells and other cell populations by light scatter, direct measurements, and opacity characteristics when using an automated hematology analyzer equipped with reticulocyte counting technology.