Blood and Bone Marrow Evaluation for Eosinophilia

Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2016 Oct;140(10):1060-7. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2016-0223-RA.

Abstract

Evaluation of peripheral blood and bone marrow for an indication of persistent eosinophilia can be a challenging task because there are many causes of eosinophilia and the morphologic differences between reactive and neoplastic causes are often subtle or lack specificity. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of the differential diagnosis for eosinophilia, to recommend specific steps for the pathologist evaluating blood and bone marrow, and to emphasize 2 important causes of eosinophilia that require specific ancillary tests for diagnosis: myeloproliferative neoplasm with PDGFRA rearrangement and lymphocyte-variant hypereosinophilic syndrome.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bone Marrow / pathology*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Eosinophilia / blood*
  • Eosinophilia / diagnosis*
  • Eosinophilia / genetics
  • Gene Rearrangement
  • Humans
  • Hypereosinophilic Syndrome / blood
  • Hypereosinophilic Syndrome / diagnosis
  • Hypereosinophilic Syndrome / genetics
  • Myeloproliferative Disorders / blood
  • Myeloproliferative Disorders / diagnosis
  • Myeloproliferative Disorders / genetics
  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / genetics
  • Prognosis
  • Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha / genetics

Substances

  • Oncogene Proteins, Fusion
  • Receptor, Platelet-Derived Growth Factor alpha