Images in Clinical Medicine

An Apoptotic Eosinophil

Ann M. Dvorak, M.D.

N Engl J Med 1999; 340:437February 11, 1999

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Article

Figure 1 A peripheral-blood eosinophil undergoing apoptosis displays the characteristic condensation of nuclear chromatin into large, electron-dense masses surrounding the central, relatively electron-lucent nuclear matrix. Other changes that are not necessarily related to the apoptotic process include the swelling and breakage of plasma and perinuclear membranes and the release of the contents of granules from swollen, enlarged, electron-lucent granule containers within secretory cells. A single osmiophilic lipid body is present in the cytoplasm. (×18,500.)

Ann M. Dvorak, M.D.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215