Example of a blood smear of a patient with trisomy 8 stained for activated caspase-3.

Freshly obtained blood smear was stained for activated caspase as described in “Patients, materials, and methods” and then subjected to FISH. A low-power view of cells staining for activated caspase is seen in panel A. A close-up view of a trisomy 8 cell, also positive for caspase-3, is seen in panel B. The same cell visualized with either a green or red bandpass filter showing caspase staining (C) and trisomy 8 probe (D). Original magnification × 100.