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Granulocytic Fragments in Sepsis

Address correspondence to Rory Dalton, M.D., Department of Pathology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, USA; tel 706 721 2611; fax 706 721 7781; e-mail rdalton{at}mail.mcg.edu.

Abstract

Granulocytic fragments have been described in the peripheral blood of patients with sepsis and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS). Although initially proposed as a morphologic clue for distinguishing the leukoerythroblastosis of sepsis from that of myelophthisis or marrow replacement by tumor, granulocyte-derived fragments may be part of a spectrum of cellular fragmentation associated with pathological inflammation and thrombosis, and thus play an important role in the pathophysiology of sepsis and SIRS. Pathologists, hematologists, and medical technologists should be aware of their existence, the morphologic features that distinguish them from macrothombocytes and schistocytes, and their potential significance.

Keywords: granulocyte, neutrophil, microparticle, sepsis, systemic inflammatory response syndrome