title: Variations of hairy cell nuclei shapes with regard to ring-shaped nuclei simulating dysplastic neutrophilic granulocytes and review of the literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nuclei of hairy cells (HC) are typically oval, round or indented, but atypical shapes are occasionally described in HCL and may lead to a provisional wrong diagnosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim of this study was to quantify HC nuclei shapes classified into 11 categories on diagnostic bone marrow smears of 38 consecutive patients with HCL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HC in all 33 patients with evaluable smears at diagnosis exhibited a round/oval nucleus in 60.8-95.8%, an indented nucleus in 3.4-24.5% and a kidney-shaped nucleus in 0.4-7.0%. Other shapes of HC nuclei were found only in a proportion of patients: nuclei with two indentations in 0.4-6.5% HC (28 patients), overlapped nuclei in 0.5-3.5% HC (17) and lobulated nuclei in 0.4-4.5% HC (15). Two per cent or less of HC had the following nuclear shapes: that of an opposite indentation and impression (14 patients), dumb-bell (13), ring (10), horseshoe (5), two nuclei (8 patients).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different shapes of HC nuclei similar to cells typical for other diagnoses are found usually in low frequencies. However, if their numbers are increased, they may cause diagnostic problems because cytology of blood and bone marrow smears is usually the first available diagnostic method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Hospital Jihlava, Jihlava, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lemež
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kačírková
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*; D053144:Cell Nucleus Shape; D003581:Cytodiagnosis; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006098:Granulocytes / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007943:Leukemia, Hairy Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009190:Myelodysplastic Syndromes / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology
keywords: Cell nucleus; cytology; diagnosis; hairy cells; lymphoma