The peripheral blood smear in patients with sickle cell trait: A morphologic observation

Abstract

It has been documented that individuals with sickle-cell trait (SCT) usually possess a normal complete blood cell count (CBC) and normal RBC morphology in the peripheral blood smear (PBS). We, however, have observed that the PBS of patients with SCT contains variable numbers of abnormally shaped RBCs (aRBCs), characterized by an elongated shape with tapered ends. To investigate whether these aRBCs are an invariable finding, the PBS of 71 patients with SCT and 72 patients without SCT were compared via light microscopy. Ninety-six percent of the study group had aRBCs in their PBS compared with 4% of the control group. The majority of the control group (96%) had no aRBCs (0%) in their PBS.