5 October 2010
A cubic millimetre = microlitre
= mm3 = mm3 = 1 mm x 1 mm x 1 mm
= a metric measure of volume or capacity equal to a cube that is 1 millimeter on each edge
CD4 counts are measured in cells per cubic millimetre = cells/mm3
Sometimes CD4 is written as cells/µL = cells/microlitre
Sometimes CD4 results are written as cells x log 106 (ie x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10)
If your CD4 count is 200, this can be written:
- 200 cells/mm3
- 200 cells/µL
- 200 x log106 cells/L
A cubic centimetre = millilitre
= one cubic centimetre = 1cm x 1cm x 1 cm = cm3 = cm3
= mL
= a metric unit of volume equal to one thousandth of a litre
Viral load is measured in copies per millilitre = copies/mL
Viral load of 20,000 is written:
- 20,000 copies/mL
- 20,000 c/mL HIV RNA.
1000 microlitre = 1 millilitre 1 US pint = 0.47 litres
5.5 litres of blood in your body
Q1. How many millitres of blood in your body? A. _______
Q2. How many microlitres of blood in your body? A. _______
[Answers: Q1: 1000 x 5.5 = 5,500; Q2: 1000 x 1000 x 5.5 = 5,500,000]