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

Slide 081 [100X]

This hypersegmented neutrophil was photographed from the March 1997 glass slide proficiency test event Slide 001, a case of folate deficiency. For this photographic challenge, two laboratories identified the cell as a segmented neutrophil. Segmented neutrophil is not an acceptable response, since the number of lobes exceeds five and that response fails to identify the abnormal nature of the cell. A five-lobed neutrophil was previously presented as a photographic transparency challenge in the May 1996 proficiency test event. The May 1996 neutrophil was identified as a hypersegmented neutrophil by 285 laboratories and a segmented neutrophil by 197 laboratories. Both identifications were acceptable responses for that test event. "Megaloblastic hypersegmentation is indicated by any neutrophils with six or more lobes or five neutrophils/100 with five or more lobes, with the majority of neutrophils having four lobes." Rodak, B. F. Diagnostic Hematology, W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1995, p.186

NUMBER OF RESPONSES	% OF LABORATORIES	CELL CODE AND TYPE
470	99.2%	code: 18: Hypersegmentation
2	0.4%	code: 09 Segmented neutrophil
1	0.2%	code: 24 No such code
1	0.2%	code: 24 No such code

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