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Updated: Jun 22, 2026
09:12
Measuring Deformability and Red Cell Heterogeneity in Blood by Ektacytometry
Published on: January 12, 2018
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SARS-CoV-2 Impact on Red Blood Cell Morphology
Kirill A Kondratov1,2,3, Alexander A Artamonov2, Vladimir Yu Mikhailovskii3
1City Hospital No. 40, St. Petersburg 197706, Russia.
Biomedicines
|November 25, 2023
Summary
Severe COVID-19 infection alters red blood cell shapes and sizes. While no COVID-19-specific erythrocyte abnormalities were found, patients showed more acanthocytes and larger size variations.
Area of Science:
- Hematology
- Virology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Severe COVID-19 significantly impacts blood cell characteristics.
- Research has predominantly focused on leukocytes, with less attention to erythrocyte morphology.
Purpose of the Study:
- Identify erythrocyte morphology abnormalities in COVID-19 patients.
- Compare poikilocyte types and measure erythrocyte size dispersion.
- Investigate red blood cell size variability in severe COVID-19.
Main Methods:
- Low-voltage scanning electron microscopy (LVSEM) was used.
- Examined red blood cells from 6 healthy controls and 5 COVID-19 patients.
- Quantified erythrocyte morphology and size distribution.
Main Results:
- No erythrocyte morphology abnormalities were specific to COVID-19.
- COVID-19 patients exhibited increased acanthocytes (p=0.01) and decreased spherocytes (p=0.03).
- Erythrocyte size showed increased median (p=0.004) and interquartile range (p=0.009) in COVID-19 patients.
Conclusions:
- COVID-19 is associated with altered erythrocyte size dispersion and specific shape changes (acanthocytosis, reduced spherocytosis).
- Further research with larger cohorts is needed due to the small study size.
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