Detailed assessment of the peculiarities of erythrocyte morphology by applying scanning electron microscopy and light-optics methods gives valuable information on the age characteristics, functional failures of the erythrocyte, pathogenesis of anaemia, and also diagnosis. In The study of the morphological features of cellular elements has great importance for assessing their functional state, vitality, and kinetics. The possibilities, however, of red blood cell investigations both by light and transmission electron microscopy are limited because of the loss of the greater part of the specialised structures of these mature cells. The cytometric investigations that have found greatest application in haematological practice have turned out to be those giving the most information in the assessment of age and red blood cell vitality. In recent years the introduction of scanning electron microscopy into cytological investigation has given an opportunity of obtaining important additional information on the shape and surface of erythrocytes.The normal erythrocyte surface is smooth. With different forms of anaemia small elevations, folds, micropores, perforations, and different kinds of protuberances appear on the surface.'-6 A great variety of shapes of erythrocyte also occur both in the normal cell and especially in pathological cells.7-"We describe the peculiarities of shape, size, and surface of erythrocytes in toxic anaemia, studied by means of scanning electron microscopy, in combi- Received 25 May 1979 Accepted 3 October 1979 nation with light-optics morphological and cytometric methods.
Materials and methodsTwo groups of patients with anaemia were examined: 10 men with long exposure to lead and 10 women who had had contact with a complex of organic solvents. The men (aged 25-50) had worked as founders, braziers, moulders, and assemblers at a copper foundry for 10-20 years. Three had mild lead intoxication, while the rest had it more seriously. There were abnormalities of porphyrin metabolism, moderate changes in the blood, polyneuritis, and increased excretion of lead. In men with intoxication the medium degree there was anaemia, polyneuritis, and, in some cases, lead colic.The women with anaemia (aged 34-50) were producing electroinsulating materials and were in contact with a wide range of toxic agents (chlorobenzene, ethylglycol, cyclohexane, solvents, and other substances) for 10-20 years. The main toxic factor among them was chlorobenzene; its concentration sometimes exceeded the permissible level by a factor of eight. The same investigations were carried out in control groups of 10 men and 10 women of similar ages. Peripheral blood in both control groups 72 on 12 May 2018 by guest. Protected by copyright.
