CASO CLINICO   

La Rivista Italiana della Medicina di Laboratorio 2019 Dicembre;15(4):300-2

DOI: 10.23736/S1825-859X.19.00042-2

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

The unexpected erythroblast: a case report

Massimo DAVES ¹ ✉, Vincenzo ROCCAFORTE ², Erika JANI ¹, Evi PEER ¹, Raffaella BINAZZI ³, Giuseppe LIPPI ⁴

¹ Laboratorio di Biochimica Clinica, Ospedale di Bolzano, Bolzano, Italia; ² Patologia Clinica e Biochimica Clinica, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano, Italia; ³ Malattie Infettive, Ospedale di Bolzano, Bolzano, Italia; ⁴ Sezione di Biochimica Clinica, Università di Verona, Verona, Italia

The complete blood cell count (CBC) is an essential test for diagnosis and management of a variety of hematological disturbances. Although the most recent generation of hematological analyzers generates rapid and accurate results, spurious data of white blood cells (WBC) or other parameters of the CBC can be occasionally observed and may be associated with derangement of the clinical decision making. Accurate knowledge of the advantages and limitations of the modern instrumentation is hence crucial. As a paradigmatic example, we describe here the case of incorrect identification of erythroblasts due to the presence of toxoplasma in peripheral venous blood.

KEY WORDS: Hematologic tests; Blood cell count; Toxoplasma; Erythroblasts