Characteristics of Pappenheimer bodies and Siderotic granules

Siderocytes and Ring Sideroblasts.

  • 20 to 60% of red cell precursors seen in bone marrow slides normally contain siderotic iron granules visible with Prussian Blue stain.
  • The presence of sideroblasts and siderocytes indicates that the red cell precursors have an ample supply of iron.
  • When a red cell precursor contains too much iron, the siderotic granules form a ring around the nucleus and the resulting cells are referred to as ring sideroblasts. The ring sideroblast is an abnormal (pathological) form of sideroblast.

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