What Does The Peripheral Smear Report Suggest?

Posted on Thu, 11 Sep 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 11 Sep 2014 Answered on

Mon, 6 Oct 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : Please review attached review of peripheral smear for our daughter. I have a previous question with Dr. XXXXXXX related to this issue. We just received the results in the mail and have had no communication with the Dr. after multiple calls.

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Probably it is just a viral infection

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for posting on HealthCareMagic. I am sorry that the doctor is unable to answer your calls. I would try to answer the question on his behalf.

The white blood cells (WBCs) or leucocytes have a few types - neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils and monocytes. Each has a different task to perform. The neutrophils, also called polymorphs, have the function of trying to control bacterial infections and therefore their count increases in case of a bacterial infection. The function of lymphocytes is related to production of antibodies, what we refer to as humoral immunity. An increase in lymphocyte concentration is usually a sign of a viral infection (in some rare case, leukemias are found through an abnormally raised lymphocyte count in an otherwise normal person). A high lymphocyte count with a low neutrophil count might be caused by lymphoma. The blood report that you have attached, indicates 'absolute lymphocytosis' which means that the total number of lymphocytes present in the blood have increased. Unless I am able to see the rest of the report and evaluate the actual symptoms, I could perhaps been able to comment further. But let me assure you that for most cases, it is not alarming and seen frequently.

Please get back with the details and other reports I would be glad to help further.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad