Thanks for sharing all the good suggestions! If you want to find out more read this interesting article about Platelet satellitism in a trauma patient.

Notice that only neutrophils are impacted, other cells are fine.

Do you recognize this rare phenomenon?

The images were captured last month on a CellaVision DM96:

To see more images of neutrophils containing meningococci, including a Gram stain, see a case published by Professor Bain and Dr James Uprichard, Consultant Haematologist, St George’s Hospital, London: Uprichard J and Bain BJ (2008) A young woman with sudden onset of a severe coagulation abnormality. Am J Hematol, 83, 672.

The blood film can be very important in the rapid confirmation of suspected meningococcal septicaemia.

Thank you Barbara Bain for sharing these cases with us!

Here are the patient details:

A 27-year-old woman presented to an accident and emergency department with fever and feeling unwell. She developed a ‘rash’ and later that day was noted to be bleeding from cannulae sites. FBC showed WBC 4.3 x 10⁹/l, Hb 161 g/l, MCV 88 fl and platelet count 35 x 10⁹/l. She was given a platelet transfusion and intravenous fluids. A later blood count was: WBC 1.5 x 10⁹/l, neutrophils 0.9 x 10⁹/l, Hb 78 g/l, and platelet count 35 x 10⁹/l. Her blood would not clot (PT, aPTT infinite, fibrinogen not detected, D-dimer 76,700). She had renal failure and an albumin less than 15 g/l. The changes in the blood count following resuscitation show how haemoconcentrated she had been at presentation.

What can you see in different cell images and what do you think about the woman’s condition?

Click on the cell images to enlarge them.

Nice looking cell isn’t it!

We are planning to publish some of the material from the meeting on the blog so that we all can learn more about the fascinating world of hematology and morphology. Don’t miss out!

A special thanks to our speakers and hope to see you next time!

Interested listeners at the CellaVision User’s Meeting 2012. The enthusiastic response illustrates the great appetite for exchanging ideas and experiences from Automated Digital Cell Morphology.

We thought this case was a good way to show you how you can work with the CellaVision Body Fluid Application and use functions such a tag a Region of Interest.

Interested in learning more about the Body Fluid Application? Read more here…

Chelsey overpowered her colleagues with an impressive 345 CellQuiz points.

Would be interesting to know if you have managed to top Chelsey’s high score – what is your score?

Get the CellAtlas app, which includes the CellQuiz, for iPhone or Android.

The pleural fluid sample was collected from a 70 year old male. The sample was cytocentrifuged and stained with Wright. Below you can see some of the cells that the lab found and a part of a region of interest.

What do you think of the cells and the man’s condition! 

Image shows a region of interest with possible malignant cells.