New York State Department of Health - Wadsworth Center - Cytohematology Proficiency Testing

Slide 065 [100X]

This slide was taken from a 20 year old female with thalassemia minor. The arrow is pointing to a basket or smudge cell. This is a degenerated nucleus which is a product of making a wedge blood smear. Smudge/basket cells are characteristic in chronic lymphocytic leukemia and may also be seen in other conditions. Disintegration of these fragile cells may be prevented by adding 4 drops of blood to 1 drop of 22% bovine albumin before making the wedge smear.

NUMBER OF RESPONSES	% OF LABORATORIES	CELL CODE AND TYPE
468	98.9%	Code: 17 Smudge cell/Basket cell
3	0.6%	Code: 56 Stain precipitate
1	0.2%	Code: 1 Blast cell, not classified
1	0.2%	Code: 12 Monocyte

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