[Nuclear fragmentation of neutrophilic granulocytes in patients with angina]

The informative value of the neutrophilic segmentation index (NSI) was estimated in 77 patients with primary streptococcal tonsillitis and in 40 normal young subjects. This index was found reduced at the peak of the disease in all the patients, this decrease depending on the disease severity. During convalescence the sooner NSI recovered, the milder was the disease course. This permits recommending NSI as an objective laboratory criterion permitting assessment of the severity of bacterial tonsillitis and the efficacy of its treatment.