Which practice helps prevent crenation artifacts when preparing a blood smear?

Which practice helps prevent crenation artifacts when preparing a blood smear?

• A. Dry the smear quickly to prevent crenation
• B. Increase staining time
• C. Use higher pH
• D. Stain with Gram's stain

Answer: (A)

Crenation artifacts come from dehydration and osmotic stress during slide drying. When a blood smear dries slowly, the surrounding solution concentrates and water leaves red blood cells, causing them to shrink and develop a crenated, jagged outline. Drying the smear quickly minimizes this dehydration, reducing the osmotic gradient over time and preserving normal cell morphology. That’s why drying quickly is the best practice to prevent crenation. Increasing staining time doesn’t address morphology, higher pH can affect staining rather than cell shape, and Gram’s stain isn’t used for blood smears and won’t prevent this artifact.

Crenation artifacts come from dehydration and osmotic stress during slide drying. When a blood smear dries slowly, the surrounding solution concentrates and water leaves red blood cells, causing them to shrink and develop a crenated, jagged outline. Drying the smear quickly minimizes this dehydration, reducing the osmotic gradient over time and preserving normal cell morphology. That’s why drying quickly is the best practice to prevent crenation. Increasing staining time doesn’t address morphology, higher pH can affect staining rather than cell shape, and Gram’s stain isn’t used for blood smears and won’t prevent this artifact.