Hypersegmentation of neutrophils in the cerebrospinal fluid: Report of a case with hematologic correlation and review of the literature

✍ Scribed by R. Daniel Lodge-Rigal; Debra B. Novotny

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1994
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 313 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 8755-1039
• DOI: 10.1002/dc.2840110113

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Hypersegmented neutrophils can occasionally be seen in the cere‐brospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with acute pyogenic meningitis, and rarely as an artifact of cytocentrifugation. We report a case of florid neutrophil hypersegmentation in cytocentrifuged CSF specimens from a patient presenting with anemia and mental status changes. Megaloblastic anemia was excluded by a thorough hematologic evaluation, and the patient was later found to have an epidural abscess. The striking hypersegmentation is attributed to the combined effects of meningeal infection and cytocentrifugation, and a review of the available limited literature on cytomorphologic alterations in CSF cells, specifically neutrophils, is presented. Diagn Cytopathol 1994; 11:56–59. © 1994 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.