A patient has a fever and a WBC of 25 × 10⁹/L with bands and metamyelocytes present.Which of the following conditions describes these results?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The presence of bands and metamyelocytes indicates a left shift, which is an increase in the immature forms of neutrophils in response to an infection. The WBC count is also elevated, indicating an infection or inflammation. Reactive leukopenia is a decrease in WBC count in response to a recent infection, which is not the case here. Pseudoneutrophilia is an increase in the proportion of neutrophils due to a decrease in other cell types, which is not what is seen here. May-Hegglin anomaly is a rare genetic disorder characterized by giant platelets and neutrophil inclusions, which is not related to the symptoms described.

A Patient Has a Fever and a WBC of 25