Nucleoli in lymphocytes of the peripheral blood in Hodgkin's disease: I. Changes in the course of the disease.

The authors examined systematically for three years in 38 patients with Hodgkin lymphomas the diagnostic value of nucleoli in lymphocytes of peripheral blood. A total of 241 examinations were made of 23 variables of the lymphocytic nucleolar test and other haematological values. Twelve healthy persons were subjected to the same examinations five times in two-week intervals. In untreated patients the authors proved in particular the diagnostically significant increase in the number of active nucleoli and micronucleoli, the elevated red cell sedimentation rate, the decline of lymphocytes in peripheral blood, uninucleolar lymphocytes and ring-shaped forms of nucleoli. These changes were potentiated in relapse and stagnate in remission of the disease. The authors introduced a new indicator--the percentage increase of red cell sedimentation after the second hour which is one of the most sensitive of the investigated variables.