Granulocytes in normal peripheral blood include neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils. Most have segmented nuclei and are therefore classified as being at the "segmented" stage of development. The granulocytes that are a little less mature have unsegmented nuclei. These are classified as "bands."
Generally, we differentiate between the band and segmented forms of neutrophils; however, it is not common practice to designate the band forms of eosinophils and basophils on a routine basis.
Since various hematologists and textbook resources use several synonymous terms to describe these cells, various synonyms for each term will be given and may be used interchangeably throughout the course.
