Sometimes patients find toxic granularity of neutrophils. It occurs due to various diseases and can be diagnosed in a laboratory blood test using special staining.
Definition
The toxic granularity of neutrophils refers to changes that are always associated with the process of human toxicosis. Pathology got its name because it was first detected in patients suffering from sepsis, provoked by gram-negative microorganisms. But this does not mean that such organisms toxic effects on neutrophils.
When it comes to a similar condition, as a rule, it implies special violations in the morphological structure of cells, provided that they accelerate their maturation and occurrence in the bone marrow. Such a violation reflects the desynchronization of the maturation of the cytoplasm and the nucleus of blood cells.
With these pathological changes in leukocytes in the cytoplasm of the cell, specific inclusions and large granules are formed. Such a violation develops due to a change in the structure of proteins. The formation of specific vacuoles and Taurus cells is also possible.
Causes of toxic granularity of neutrophils
Experts highlight the occurrence of such an ailment due to:
- Radiation damage to the body.
- Cancers undergoing decay.
- Pathologies that are accompanied by a strong deterioration in the general condition of the patient.
- The phenomena of inflammatory nature and purulent nature.
In addition, changes in neutrophils can be covered in the following conditions:
- The occurrence of absorbable infiltrate.
- Phlegmon.
- Peritonitis.
- Croupous pneumonia.
Manifestations in children
If a child exhibits toxic granularity of neutrophils, then, as a rule, it is a consequence of a recent illness, accompanied by a strong fever, chills, prolonged severe fever, and the release of large amounts of pus. Among such pathologies:
- Skin diseases, accompanied by a pronounced process of separation of pus (for example, phlegmon).
- All diseases that are included in the group of "acute abdomen."
- Suddenly abnormal abnormalities.
- Scarlet fever, measles.
What else could be the cause of toxic neutrophil granularity in a child?
In some cases, the pathology in babies is manifested by Chediak-Higashi syndrome. This condition is a congenital and very rare disorder in which all leukocyte cells are affected. In such children, first of all, there is a pronounced immune deficiency.
In addition, children are often susceptible to pustular and infectious pathologies, are very prone to malignant hemorrhages. Unfortunately, such a disease often has an unfavorable prognosis.
Pregnancy
During the period of gestation, a woman may experience slight changes in the structure of white blood cells. Most often they do not pose a danger. However, such a condition should be considered normal only if the woman does not notice adverse symptoms and does not experience malaise.
Typically, the diagnosis of pregnant women with toxic granularity of neutrophils in the blood does not detect any deviations, if the rest of the indicators are normal.
Norms of cell structures
A normal indicator of toxic granularity is considered 0%. But there are conditional indicators, when the content of abnormal cells is low, and medical supervision is not required. These conditions include:
- Pregnancy.
- Recovery period after infection.
- The postoperative period.
It is important to remember that even a slight excess of the normal indicator indicates the presence of a pathological process in the body. During therapy, the specialist monitors the number of abnormal cells in order to assess the effectiveness of the prescribed therapeutic effect and its possible correction.
Varieties of change
This pathology can be detected when staining smears in the usual way. However, even with a good color, dusty toxogenic granularity may not be visible. Therefore, to identify the ailment, special methods have been proposed, of which the Freifeld method is the most common and affordable.
A special classification is used to characterize the severity of toxic granularity of neutrophils. Doctors have developed the so-called plus system for this. When classifying lesions, granules that are formed in the affected cells are evaluated, as well as the percentage of diseased cells:
- Granularity +. In this case, small grains are detected.
- Granularity ++. It is diagnosed with medium sizes, and about half of all cells are pathological.
- Granularity +++. About 75% of all cells in which altered grains of large size are found are affected.
- Granularity ++++. There is a life-threatening pathology of blood cells. The cytoplasm in this case is sparse, large granules are present in it.
Grain Analysis Required
The most important study, which allows to clarify the diagnosis, analysis of changes in the white blood cell count. This study is very significant for the differentiation of diseases. For example, any pathological changes in the lungs cause a neutrophilic shift to the left, while changes in the oncological nature of the degenerative granularity do not. Any inflammatory processes, on the contrary, always cause such a state of cells.
To detect toxic neutrophil granularity in a child and an adult, a special laboratory study of a blood sample is carried out using methylene blue and fuchsin. Prepare the latter as follows:
- By heating in 15 grams, 96% ethanol dissolves one gram of the dye.
- After that, a 5% solution of carbolic acid in the amount of 100 grams is added to the resulting mixture.
- Then, in 7 ml of water, 7 drops of the obtained coloring solution and 1% methylene blue in the amount of 5 drops are added. The resulting solution was thoroughly diluted, then they smear smears for one hour. After that, they are washed off and dried. This method allows you to examine grit (flakes, dust) under a microscope.
Symptoms and consequences
If normal toxic grit levels are exceeded, the human body begins to respond to certain painful processes with certain complex reactions.
Most often, expressed toxic granularity of neutrophils is a symptom of the development of pathology, in which there is an increase in the number of granulocytes in the blood. It may also indicate a shift in the leukocyte count to the left.
With the growth of degrading neutrophils in a patient, the development of bacteremia begins and the infection process generalizes. If the number of neutrophils with pathological changes exceeds 50% in septic or purulent diseases, or this indicator increases, the prognosis becomes unfavorable.
The patient has symptoms of the disease that caused the disorder - croupous pneumonia, radiation poisoning and others. Chills and toxic granularity of neutrophils often accompany each other.
The doctor should take into account the dynamics of changes in the patient’s blood counts, adjust the treatment if necessary, and prescribe certain drugs. The rapid increase in the concentration of neutrophils is not a very good sign.
The therapy of toxic granularity directly depends on the success of the treatment of the main pathology that provoked changes in the blood cells, since toxigenic changes are nothing more than its consequences. In this case, the doctor can only observe the leukocyte formula.