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©2013 UpToDate ® Print Email Blood smear too thick Suboptimally prepared peripheral blood smear which is too thick. All that is seen on this low power view are dense collections of darkened red cells. No morphologic characteristics of the red cells can be discerned. Courtesy of Jackie Mitus, MD. Normal peripheral blood smear High power view of a normal peripheral blood smear. Several platelets (black arrows) and a normal lymphocyte (blue arrow) can also be seen. The red cells are of relatively uniform size and shape. The diameter of the normal red cell should approximate that of the nucleus of the small lymphocyte; central pallor (red arrow) should equal one-third of its diameter. Courtesy of Carola von Kapff, SH (ASCP).