LAUSR

infarction or haemorrhage. The combined clinical and pathologic features of cutaneous lesions in cryoglobulinemia provide an early opportunity to recognize it and anticipate systemic complications. However, the cryocrit remains the most frequently used laboratory hallmark for its diagnosis. To detect cryoglobulins, blood should be drawn into prewarmed containers at 37°C without anticoagulants. In automated CBC analysers, cryoglobulinemia has been reported to produce pseudoleukocytosis and/or pseudothrombocytosis due to temperature-dependent protein precipitates that are interpreted as blood cells at room temperature. Knowledge of cryoglobulinemia’s effects on automated CBC parameters is important in reporting reliable laboratory test results and in the detection of cryoglobulinemia in unknown or suspected cases. Falsely elevated blood cell counts due to cryoglobulinemia are a well described, however, still unfamiliar event, especially in the dermatological literature.