Editing Autosplenectomy (section)

=== Testing for autosplenectomy ===
One of the spleen's main tasks is to filter the blood and remove and recycle damaged or old red blood cells.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chp.edu/our-services/transplant/liver/education/organs/spleen-information|title=What Is the Spleen? Functions & Info {{!}} Children's Hospital Pittsburgh|website=www.chp.edu|access-date=2016-03-03}}</ref> Splenic function can be measured by filtering capabilities, as indicated by number of Howell-Jolly bodies or pitted erythrocytes in the blood.<ref name="Brousse 165–176"/> Both of these tests examine whether or not the spleen is functioning normally by testing splenic outputs.

==== Howell-Jolly bodies ====
[[Howell–Jolly body|Howell–Jolly bodies]] are found on [[red blood cell]]s and contain chromatin remnants from basophilic cells.<ref>{{Cite journal|pmc = 4103047|title = Functional hyposplenism|last = Kirkineska|first = L|date = 2014|journal = Hippokratia|pmid = 25125944|volume=18|issue = 1|pages=7–11}}</ref> Under normal conditions, these nuclear remnants are removed from the blood by the spleen's filtering capabilities. Howell-Jolly bodies can be identified and quantified using a blood smear or by flow cytometry.<ref name="Brousse 165–176"/> A high number of Howell-Jolly bodies is indicative of splenic hypofunction and potentially autosplenectomy.

==== Pitted erythrocytes ====
Erythrocytes with membrane pits can be indicative of splenic dysfunction as a healthy spleen clears blood of pitted erythrocytes. Pitted erythrocytes can be counted using Normarsky optics.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Post-splenectomy and hyposplenic states|last = Di Sabatino|first = Antonio|date = April 6, 2011|journal = Lancet|volume = 378|issue = 9785|pages = 86–97|doi = 10.1016/s0140-6736(10)61493-6 |pmid = 21474172|s2cid = 30554953}}</ref> Humans with healthy spleens have less than two percent of their red blood cells contain pits. In comparison, a person with asplenia may have up to 50% of their red blood cells contain pits.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rbclab.com/Pages/200/210/120%20Pit/210%20120.html|title=Red Blood Cell Pit Count|date=2010|website=Red Blood Cell Lab|publisher=Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute|access-date=March 2, 2016}}</ref>