Auer rods

 

Blast with Auer rods

Some types of acute leukemia are composed of only blasts (no differentiating neutrophils, no monocytic precursors, just a sea of blasts). In those cases, look for Auer rods. A blast with an Auer rod can only be a myeloblast! It cannot be a lymphoblast, or a monoblast, or any other kind of blast. So if you see blasts with Auer rods, you know it is some type of acute myeloid leukemia. Remember, though, that the converse is not true: just because you don’t  see Auer rods, that does not mean that the blast is not a myeloblast. Some myeloblasts have Auer rods, and some don’t. So if you see Auer rods, it is an AML. If you don’t, it still could be an AML.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, April 12th, 2009 at 8:30 amand is filed under Hematopathology, acute leukemia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Auer rods”

  • lucky Says:
    July 16th, 2010 at 11:30 pm

    why only myeloblasts have Auer Rods?
    Why Auer Rods not seen in normal myeloblasts?

  • admin Says:
    July 17th, 2010 at 6:58 am

    I don’t think anyone knows why Auer rods are only seen in myeloblasts – or why they form at all in the first place.

  • Krista B Says:
    August 5th, 2010 at 7:11 pm

    Auer rods are composed of fused primary granules, which is a maturation deffect in the cells.

  • A.m.khatri Says:
    August 23rd, 2010 at 11:54 pm

    What stain is used for demostrating auer rods in blasts?
    PAS or myeloperoxidase?

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