Pseudo-grey platelet syndrome: a rare artifact.

Two cases that were identified during routine blood examination, presented an artifact the pseudo-grey platelet syndrome. The platelets from the blood collected with ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) stained poorly on the blood smear and appeared agranular under the microscope. This artifactual anomaly did not occur when samples were collected in vacutainers containing citrate or collected by finger prick. Reports of pseudo-grey platelet syndrome are few, possibly because of the poorly explained and difficult to diagnose phenomenon.