骨研究ジャーナル
オープンアクセス

概要

Prevalence of Dacrocytosis in Patients with Chronic Diseases: Splenomegaly is not Mandatory for Teardrop Cells Genesis

Rojas-Maya S, Sarias-Cueto LA, Perez-Diaz I, Osorio-Landa HK, Garcia-Martinez B, Fagundo-Sierra R, Rivera-Moscoso R, Carrillo-Maravilla E and Laguna-Barcenas SC

Background: Dacrocytes or “teardrop cells” are elongated red blood cells at one end forming a cell with the appearance of a tear drop and are of varying size. Dacrocytes are frequently observed in complete blood counts of patients with myeloproliferative disease, but can also be found in other systemic diseases in which their prevalence and clinical significance remains unknown.

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence and possible clinical significance of dacrocytes observed in the peripheral blood smear of patients with different systemic diseases.

Methods: This is a descriptive study that analyzed the peripheral blood smears of 35,086 patients in a tertiary care hospital, in search of dacrocytes, and correlating this finding with their clinical and biochemical profiles.

Results: Dacrocytes were intentionally sought in 35,086 peripheral blood smears. The observed prevalence of dacrocytosis was 1.4% (n=492 patients). No statistically significant relationship was established between dacrocytosis and the patients’ diagnoses, although there was a tendency to find dacrocytes in patients with cancer (CA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Thus the presence of dacrocytes was not associated to the type of anemia or to the degree of renal dysfunction. Our results do not support the theory asserting that dacrocyte formation is a result of splenomegaly since only 28.5% of patients with this erythrocyte anomaly presented associated splenomegaly.

Conclusion: Dacrocytosis may be present, at a very low prevalence, in various systemic diseases. It is independent of the type of anemia and the degree of renal dysfunction. For the first time, splenomegaly is excluded as the only cause of dacrocytosis in peripheral blood smears.