Infectious Mononucleosis - Peripheral Blood

Comments:
Peripheral blood smear showing activated lymphocytes from a patient with infectious mononucleosis. This 18 y/o female presented with acute lymphadenitis. Lab. work was positive for MonoSpot test and EBV serology.

The image shows three activated (atypical) lymphocytes and a normal segmented neutrophil. The lymphocytes have abundant basophilic cytoplasm and irregular nuclei with clumped chromatin and inconspicuous nucleoli. Note the scalloping of the cytoplasmic membrane around red blood cells.

Image courtesy of: Ed Uthman, MD; used under Creative Commons BY 2.0 License