Special Morphological Changes in the Neutrophils of Liver Transplantation Patients

Neutrophils are the most abundant and short-lived leukocytes in the human circulatory system. Studies have shown that neutrophils are involved in innate immunity, pathogen killing, and liver diseases. Erroneous activation of neutrophils is involved in the pathogenesis of several inflammatory diseases, including liver failure. Moreover, the morphology of neutrophils also undergoes specific changes.

Here, we report two cases of a specific group of neutrophils in the peripheral blood smears (PBSs) of liver transplantation patients that exhibited a morphology similar to that of monocytes and led to the misidentification of neutrophils as monocytes by a hematology analyzer (HA).

In this case, specific neutrophil nuclear shape changes were very rare. It should be considered by the laboratorian that misidentification of neutrophils and monocytes by the HA can occur.