Abstract Introduction: Erythrocyte inclusions are elements that may be present in red blood cells (RBCs). The appearance, composition, and associated physiology of the inclusions are speci c for each type of inclusion. Identi cation and reporting of these inclusions are important because their presence may indicate diseases or disorders. Typically, inclusion bodies are nuclear or cytoplasmic aggregates of stainable substance, usually proteins. The inclusion bodies in red blood cells are almost always indicative of some sort of pathology, and thus it is useful to understand each inclusion body that can occur within a red blood cell. Aim: 1. To interpret inclusion bodies and correlate with smear ndings. 2. To nd out the uses of identifying them in day to day practice. Material and Methods: Present study is a retrospective study for 3 months. All the cases which came with request for peripheral smear study in the clinical central laboratory were included in the study. Results: There were total of 400 cases in 3 months, which included 130 microcytic hypochromic anemia, 33 macrocytic anemias, 30 dimorphic anemias and 207 normal smears. There were 4 cases of leukemia, 1 microangiopathichemolyticanemia and 42 eosinophelia. Of the 400 cases 58 presented with thrombocytopenia, 13 as pancytopenia and 7 showed parasites (malaria and borrelia). There were total of 32 (8%) cases which showed the RBC Inclusions, consisting of Howell jolly bodies- 20 cases (62.5%), Basophilicstippling-10 (31.25%), cabot ring 01(3.125%)and Pappenheimer bodies -01 (3.125%). Conclusion: Identi cation and reporting of these inclusions are important because their presence may indicate diseases or disorders. This article tells us the importance of smear study which is basic and a very important tool indiagnosing some conditions which would have been missed by CBC alone.
Keywords: Peripheral smear, RBC inclusions.