The patient is a 28 year-old female who is in the fourth month of pregnancy. The laboratory reports a positive sickle hemoglobin solubility test.
Toxic granules are prominent, dark, primary granules in the cytoplasm.
They are associated with abnormal states, especially bacterial infection, inflammation or tissue necrosis. Several features of the cell are characteristic of a monocyte and serve to distinguish it from a reactive lymphocyte. The nucleus has the reniform or kidney-bean shape commonly present in these cells. The homogeneous cytoplasm is gray-blue and contains vacuoles and a few granules. These cells are easily recognized by their bright orange-red spherical cytoplasmic granules.