Approach to peripheral blood film assessment for pathologists

In today's age of advanced technology used in the diagnosis of many medical problems, the blood film stands out as an inexpensive and quick diagnostic tool that can generally be performed in most laboratories. Understanding when to perform a blood film and how it is made and having an organized sequential approach to reviewing the blood film are critical in the efficient use of this ubiquitous laboratory investigation. This article will review these issues, as well as common morphologic abnormalities found on blood films, and will discuss related clinical diagnoses that they represent. The final step of communicating the blood film findings in a clear and concise method to relay clinical suspicions to the end user will be discussed.