MedLabBuddy

Study and Reference material for Medical Laboratory Sciences

Blast Cells

Blast cells do not normal circulate in peripheral blood.

Their presence in peripheral blood usually indicates a type of leukemia.

Blast Appearance

Blast cells have scant and basophilic cytoplasm that is usually agranular. The nucleus contains visible nucleoli with fine chromatin.

Lookalikes

Activated lymphocytes can be mistaken for blasts. However, there are several notable differences. Activated lymphocytes have a lighter blue cytoplasm with a dark periphery, clumpier chromatin, and lack nucleoli.

Activated Lymphs

The lacey chromatin of monocytes can look similar to the fine chromatin in blasts. However, monocytes will lack nucleoli. They will also have more abundant cytoplasm which may contain vacuoles.