title: Quantitative morphological analysis of erythrocytes by reflection contrast microscopy.
abstract: In reflection contrast erythrocytes show characteristic interference lines consisting of alternating maxima and minima. The distance between neighboring interference lines corresponds to a difference in cell thickness of about 113 nm. Some visual and graphic methods for quantitative morphological analysis are described; their application is demonstrated using unstained and stained blood smears of normal individuals and patients with hereditary spherocytosis, sickle cell anemia, and thalassemia.
mesh_terms: D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000097:blood; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D013103:Spherocytosis, Hereditary / Q000097:blood; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000097:blood