Normal neutrophils are uniform in size, with an apparent diameter of about 13 μm in a film.

The majority of neutrophils have three nuclear segments (lobes) connected by tapering chromatin strands.

Hypersegmentation can sometimes be difficult to assert since interobserver variation is high and segmentation may vary with race.

A 1996 study performed in the United States found that blacks have a greater neutrophil segmentation than whites.

[2] Neutrophil hypersegmentation is one of the earliest, most sensitive and specific signs of megaloblastic anemia (mainly caused by hypovitaminosis of vitamin B12 & folic acid).