Blood, 1957, Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 367-372.
© 1957 American Society of Hematology, Inc.
The Dead Leukocyte Content of the Blood in Normal
and Leukemic Patients
NICHOLAS L. PETRAKIS 1,
ESTELLE LIEBERMAN 1, and
JEAN FULLERTON 1
1 Cancer Research Institute, Department of Medicine, and the Radiological
Laboratory, University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco, Calif.
The dead leukocyte content of the blood of normal and leukemic subjects was
determined by the technic of the unstained-cell counts of Schrek. A small and
constant number of dead leukocytes was found in the normal blood, averaging
46 per cu. mm. In patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute leukemia, higher numbers of dead leukocytes were commonly found, ranging from
normal values to as high as 4,600 per cu. mm. No correlation was found between
the numbers of smudge forms on blood smears from these patients and the number of dead leukocytes. The smudge forms on blood smears appear to result from
the mechanical trauma produced in making the smears. The leukocytes from
chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute leukemia appear to be much more susceptible to the mechanical forces produced in the preparation of blood smears
than are leukocytes from normals and patients with chronic granulocytic leukemia.
Submitted on June 25, 1956
Accepted on August 12, 1956
