Red blood cell fragmentation. Improved detection and identification of causes.

The peripheral blood film and the red blood cell size distribution histogram were examined for evidence of red blood cell fragments in 2,350 subjects. To distinguish subjects with greater than or equal to 10 fragments/1,000 red blood cells (abnormal) from normal, examination of the blood film was 0.83 sensitive and 0.30 specific, whereas examination of the histogram was 0.97 sensitive and 0.87 specific. The most common causes of abnormal fragmentation were malignancy with cytotoxic chemotherapy and severe iron deficiency. In two subjects, an abnormal red blood cell fragmentation pattern was the clue to a spectrin mutant in subjects with an automated blood count previously evaluated as normal. The data suggest two conclusions: the red blood cell volume histogram appears more accurate than the peripheral blood film for routine identification of red blood cell fragments; and asymptomatic spectrin abnormality identifiable by abnormal histogram may be a relatively common disorder.