Focus on images: Circulating histiocytes and transient hemophagocytosis in peripheral blood

Circulating Histiocytes and Hemophagocytosis in Peripheral Blood

“…Sloma et al [ 1 ] described the presence of a peripheral phagocytic histiocyte in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia following an episode of severe pneumonia and they suggested that it was probably related to an inappropriate host immune response to the pneumonia. Sayagh et al [ 2 ] hypothesized that, in addition to the autoimmune context, donor/recipient incompatibility was at play in low immunogenic red cell groups in the case of a 10-month-old baby transfused with packed RBCs. In our case, two possible hypotheses may be considered: infectious pneumonitis and RBC transfusion.…”