Howell-Jolly bodies. A clue to splenic infarction

A 74-year-old woman with secondary erythrocytosis was found to have Howell-Jolly bodies in peripheral blood erythrocytes following acute splenic infarction. The Howell-Jolly bodies were a transitory finding and disappeared six days after the infarction, although the spleen remained abnormal by isotope scanning for several weeks. Careful inspection of the peripheral blood film may be an aid in the diagnosis of acute splenic infarction.