Cells are suspended in fluid and tagged with fluorescent antibodies.
The microscopic world of hematology is often a battle between what we see and what is actually there. In the diagnosis of neoplastic diseases, the "story" is one of collaboration between traditional morphology and the high-tech precision of flow cytometry. The Visual Clues (Morphology)
As cells pass a laser beam, the machine reads their size (forward scatter) and internal complexity (side scatter).
Everything begins with a blood smear or bone marrow aspirate. Under the microscope, a pathologist looks for "blasts"—cells that have lost their way. Are the cells abnormally large? The Nucleus: Is the chromatin clumped or fine? The Clues: Presence of Auer rods or specific granules.
Cells are suspended in fluid and tagged with fluorescent antibodies.
The microscopic world of hematology is often a battle between what we see and what is actually there. In the diagnosis of neoplastic diseases, the "story" is one of collaboration between traditional morphology and the high-tech precision of flow cytometry. The Visual Clues (Morphology)
As cells pass a laser beam, the machine reads their size (forward scatter) and internal complexity (side scatter).
Everything begins with a blood smear or bone marrow aspirate. Under the microscope, a pathologist looks for "blasts"—cells that have lost their way. Are the cells abnormally large? The Nucleus: Is the chromatin clumped or fine? The Clues: Presence of Auer rods or specific granules.