Anemia in Relation to Survival Following Thermal Injury in the Rat

¹ From the Department of Zoology, Pomona College, Claremont, California

Hematocrits, erythrocyte and reticulocyte counts were determined in rats receiving burns of 20%, 32% and 50% of the body surface and in three unburned control groups. All burned rats showed an immediate precipitous depression of hematocrits and erythrocyte counts. These were considerably lower at 24 hours postburn than the values in the control group which was bled. Erythrocyte depression during the 1st week postburn was directly related to extent of injury in the animals surviving for 24 weeks. No such correlation existed for those rats that died. No correlation was found between the immediate degree of anemia and death or survival. A secondary erythrocyte depression occurred in those animals that survived 24 weeks following burns of 32% and 50% of the body surface but did not develop in the 20% body surface burned animals surviving for 24 weeks. The erythrocyte counts in all control groups were above base line values at the end of the 24-week observation period. Elevated reticulocyte counts which were inversely related to the erythrocyte counts occurred in all burned animals surviving 24 weeks. The reticulocyte counts in all unburned groups were below base line at the end of the 24-week observation period.