Erythrocytes: pits and vacuoles as seen with transmission and scanning electron microscopy

Vacuoles containing inclusions were observed by transmission electron microscopy in erythrocytes of a splenectomized patient with hemoglobin Ann Arbor. The membranes of these vacuoles became fused with the surface membrane of the red cell, thus opening the vacuoles and exposing their contents to the outside. These vacuoles when they have become thus attached to the cell membrane of the erythrocyte are responsible for the pits observed with scanning electron microscopy.