- The rod-shaped appearance of the central pallor is characteristic of a stomatocyte.This image was obtained from the peripheral blood smear of an 86 year-old male who presented with pancytopenia and later diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome.
- Stomatocytes are found in hereditary spherocytosis, in exposure to certain drugs and as an artifact from improperly prepared peripheral blood smears. In this case, with only a few (less than ten percent) of the red blood cells affected their presence may be considered an artifact of preparation.
Stomatocytes
Source: http://www.wadsworth.org
