Welcome back Readers to the last case in 2009!
This case is a colon biopsy that contained an unexpected object. For the non-pathologists, note that what we’re seeing is a worm cut in cross-section. Use the internal structures to help you identify it. Another hint: notice that the worm portion shown is external to the [...]
Answer: Hymenolepis nana eggs
Most people who wrote in with the answer to this were correct – these are good examples of the thin-walled H. nana eggs, with a central 6-hooked embryo, and 4 to 8 polar filaments radiating from thickenings of the envelope surrounding the embyro (onchosphere). The eggs measure between 30 to 50 microns [...]
Here’s a challenging case for you to start off the holiday week. The following eggs were seen in a stool preparation from a 2 year old boy with vague abdominal pain. Identification?
Answer: Plasmodium ovale (trophozoites)
Congratulations to everyone who wrote in with the answer – you all recognized the classic appearance of P. ovale in a thin smear of peripheral blood. Like P. vivax, P. ovale has prominent stippling (a.k.a. Schuffner’s dots) and enlargement of the infected red blood cells, but the trophozoite forms are more compact [...]
Blood smear from a febrile missionary who just returned from Nigeria. Diagnosis?
Answer: Pediculus humanus, Human head or body louse. Many of you were very observant and noticed that there was a similar image on my blog’s front page: http://parasitewonders.blogspot.com/
Thanks for writing in!
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