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The standard definition of a left shift is an absolute band form count greater than 7700/microL. [3] There are competing explanations for the origin of the phrase "left shift," including the left-most button arrangement of early cell sorting machines [4] [5] and a 1920s publication by Josef Arneth, containing a graph in which immature neutrophils, with fewer segments, shifted the median left. [6]
A left shift, meaning an increase in band neutrophils or immature granulocytes, can indicate infection, inflammation or bone marrow disorders, although it can also be a normal finding in pregnancy. [ 70 ] [ 71 ] Some laboratories do not separate bands from mature neutrophils in the differential count because the classification is highly ...
Neutrophilia indicates an elevated count. While many clinicians refer to the presence of neutrophilia as a "left shift", this is imprecise, as a left shift indicates the presence of immature neutrophil forms, [citation needed] but neutrophilia refers to the entire mass of neutrophils, both mature and immature. Neutrophilia can be indicative of:
Neutrophilia (also called neutrophil leukocytosis or occasionally neutrocytosis) is leukocytosis of neutrophils, that is, a high number of neutrophils in the blood. [1] Because neutrophils are the main type of granulocytes , mentions of granulocytosis often overlap in meaning with neutrophilia.
An increase in the number of these immature neutrophils in circulation can be indicative of an infection for which they are being called to fight against, or some inflammatory process. The increase of band cells in the circulation is called bandemia and is a "left shift" process.
[4] [5] Although normal, mature neutrophils do contain some primary granules, the granules are difficult to identify by light microscopy because they lose their dark blue colour as the cells mature. Toxic granulation thus represents abnormal maturation of neutrophils. [6]
Leukocytosis can be subcategorized by the type of white blood cell that is increased in number. Leukocytosis in which neutrophils are elevated is neutrophilia; leukocytosis in which lymphocyte count is elevated is lymphocytosis; leukocytosis in which monocyte count is elevated is monocytosis; and leukocytosis in which eosinophil count is elevated is eosinophilia.
Neutrophilia and left shift (the presence of immature neutrophil precursors such as band neutrophils and metamyelocytes in the peripheral blood) often accompany toxic changes, as these phenomena also occur in response to inflammation. [1] [5]