Vacuolated lymphocytes

What it means

The presence of clear, sharply defined vacuoles in the lymphocyte cytoplasm.

Vacuolated lymphocytes occur most commonly as the peripheral blood manifestation of inherited metabolic disorders, including Niemann-Pick disease Type A, infantile sialic acid storage disorder, Wolman's disease, Mucolipidoses II and III, Salla disease, mannosidosis, Batten disease, GM1 gangliosidosis, neuraminidase deficiency, galactosidosis, fucosidosis, Pompe's disease, aspartylglycosaminuria and rarely, multiple sulfatase deficiency. The metabolic product, which causes vacuolation, depends on the specific enzyme deficiency.

Rare diseases that can present with this3

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Enlarged lysosomal vacuoles in lymphocytes · Vacuolated blood lymphocytes