Guidelines for Reporting Red Blood Cell Morphology

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Guidelines for Reporting Red Blood Cell Morphology

Cell Type
RBC Morphology Reporting Per High Power Field (400x)
Few
Moderate
Many
Acanthocytes (spur cells)
Up to 1% of the field

or

1-2 cells per field

1-2.5% of the field

or

3-5 cells per field

> 2.5% of the field

or

> 5 cells per field
Fragmented red cells (schistocytes, helmet cells, keratocytes/horn cells)
Polychromatophilic cells
Sickle cells (drepanocytes)
Spherocytes
Teardrop cells (dacrocytes)
.
Few
Moderate
Many
Echinocytes (burr cells)
5-25% of the field
or
10-50 cells per field
25 - 50% of the field
or
51-100 cells per field
> 50% of the field
or
> 100 cells per field
Hypochromic cells
Macrocytes
Microcytes
Ovalocytes (elliptocytes)
Stomatocytes
Target cells (codocytes)
....
Double Cell Population
Report if present
RBC Agglutination
Rouleaux