Surface relief of peripheral blood erythrocytes in patient with schizophrenia (scanning electron microscopy data)

: Surface relief and configuration of peripheral blood erythrocytes were studied under a scanning electron microscope in 42 patients with paranoid schizophrenia during the active phase and remission. Control group consisted of 30 mentally and somatically healthy donors. The count of functionally intact biconcave discocytes was appreciably (p < 0.001) decreased and the incidence of transitory, prehemolytical, and degenerative forms of erythrocytes increased in the patients. Morphological restructuring of the erythrocyte population was universal in the patients with different duration of the schizophrenic process.