Greenish-blue Granular Marrow Histiocytes Associated with Low Serum Cholesterol

Abstract

PAS-positive greenish-blue granular histiocytes were observed in 16 of 500 consecutive bone marrow aspirates performed for various hematologic disorders. These cells resemble those first reported by Sawitsky and associates in what has been recently named the “syndrome of the sea-blue histiocyte.” Unlike previous investigators, we found the cells more frequently in men, associated with reduced serum cholesterol, and not associated with hepatosplenomegaly. Similar histiocytes were observed in patients with albinism with low serum cholesterol, while none were observed in patients with albinism with normal cholesterol values.