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 [...]
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 [...]
Blood smear from a febrile missionary who just returned from Nigeria. Diagnosis?
Case removed for publication.
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