Nuclear Lobulation and Cytoplasmic Fibrils in Leukemic Plasma Cells

Abstract

Beltran, German, and Stuckey, W. J.: Nuclear lobulation and cytoplasmic fibrils in leukemic plasma cells. Am. J. Clin. Pathol. 58: 159–164, 1972. The ultrastructure of circulating plasma cells from a man with multiple myeloma and plasma cell leukemia was studied. The most outstanding features were: (a) the frequent bilobulation of the nucleus and (b) the presence of bundles of fibrils in the cytoplasm of all cells. Frequently, these fibrils occurred around the nucleus, and they might have played a role in the production of the nuclear lobulation. We considered the possibility that they represented intracellular amyloid, but their morphologic characteristics did not support this. The significance of these findings remains to be established.