Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites RSS feedThis is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Case of the Week 716
 Happy May, everyone! As the first Monday of the month, it ' s time for our post fromIdzi Potters and theInstitute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp. Idzi was recently featured in agreat articleby the Institute - you should check it out! This month ' s case are the following objects seen in 3 different stains from a patient with sudden onset of profuse watery diarrhea and abdominal cramping:Concentrated wet preparation with Lugol ' s iodineHeine stainModified acid fast stainWhat is your diagnosis?  (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - May 1, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 716
 Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 716:Cyclospora cayetanensisoocystsOn the wet mount preparation with Lugol ' s iodine, one can nicely appreciate the spherical oocyst with well-defined outer wall and internal globular bodies. The oocysts are not highlighted by the Heine and trichrome stains (latter not shown), but their presence may be suspected by their negative contour. Confirmation can be made by staining with modified acid fast stain (or modified safranin stain), and by demonstrating autofluorescence with fluorescence microscopy. It is important to measure the oocysts on the stains above, since cryptosp...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 30, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 715
This week ' s interesting case was donated by Dr Mike Mitchell and his fantastic parasitology experts, Laura Derderian, Gwen Kee, and Brie Ray. The specimen below was submitted to the laboratory for evaluation of a possible parasite after being found in a 19 month girl ' s diaper. Identification? What is the significance to the patient? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 25, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 715
 Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 715: Cockroach ootheca (egg case or ' purse ' )These fascinating structures contain about 30-40 eggs each. The female cockroach carries her ootheca until the eggs hatch and the first instar nymphs emerge. For those of you who had never heard of this phenomenon before, you can read moreHERE. In this case, we can see the emerging nymphs:Laura noted that the ootheca was hard and solid when it first arrived in the lab so she added some saline and waited for 30 minutes. This is when the nymphs began to poke out and she was able to remove them for individual viewing. Thinking abo...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 23, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 714
This week ' s case was donated by Dr. Sandeep T. You may remember the amazing case of fasciolopiasis he provided back in 2012 (and if not, you should definitely check it outHERE). His latest case from a middle aged taxi driver who reports passing white objects in is his stool for the past 2 years. He denies fever, weight loss, vomiting and diarrhea. A routine complete count is unremarkable with no anemia. Below is one of the white objects submitted for pathologic examination. Identification? What additional procedures would be helpful in this case? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 5, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 714
 Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 714:Taeniaspecies proglottid. Examination of the uterine branching pattern is required for species level identification when using morphology alone. Gravid proglottids (which we know we have here since we see eggs) can be categorized into 2 groups:Taenia soliumproglottids have 7-13 primary lateral branches off of the central stem, whereasT. saginataandT. asiaticahave 12-30. Of the three species, onlyT. soliumcauses human cysticercosis, so it is helpful to identify whenT. soliumis present.Options for determining the species of gravid proglottids are:1. Transilluminating the progl...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - April 2, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 713
 Here is combination case from my archives showing a particular parasite in 3 different preparations of vaginal secretions.Conventional Pap smear:ThinPrep Pap smear:Giemsa-stained cytoprep:Identification? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 27, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 713
 Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 713:Trichomonas vaginalistrophozoiteAs noted by Florida Fan, the Giemsa-stained preparation is ideal for highlighting the key morphologic features ofT. vaginalistrophozoites, including the flagella, undulating membrane, and axostyle. In my mind, the Pap stain just doesn ' t highlight the features as well. Here is an annotated image showing some of these features:The trophozoites ofT. vaginalisare 7-30 micrometers long, are tear drop/pear-shaped (i.e., pyriform), and have 5 flagella. Four flagella are anteriorly directed, while the 5th flagellum runs posteriorly along the undulat...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 26, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 712
This week ' s beautiful case was donated by Drs. Beal, Saulino and Herrera Rivera from the University of Florida. The following structure was noted on a liver biopsy from a patient with former international residence. What is the diagnosis? Can you describe the key diagnostic features? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 6, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 712
 Answer to theParasite Case of the Week 712:Schistosomasp. egg within an eosinophilic granuloma.As nicely described by Idzi (with minor edits from me), " When the eggs are deposited by the female worm in the arterial plexus of intestines/bladder, many of these eggs will flow back to the liver. In the picture, I can ’t see the egg’s spine, so the exact species remains unknown, but we can see the refractive egg shell with miracidium inside. At the miracidium’s terebratorium (upper left), we can see one of the two lateral secretory glands (staining basophilic). Right behind this gland, we see part of a ring of nerv...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - March 5, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 711
 This week ' s impressive case was generously donated by Dr. Ryan Relich. The following was seen in Giemsa-stained thick and thin blood films (1000x) from a middle aged immunocompromised male with recent travel to Niger. Diagnosis? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 20, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 711
 Answer to the Parasite Case of the Week 711: Plasmodium falciparuminfection with high parasitemia. Primarily early stage trophozoites are seen, but a single (somewhat) banana-shaped gametocyte and possibly later stage trophozoites are often seen. Given the high level of parasitemia, it ' s not surprising that we are seeing some some extracellular forms. If there happens to be concern about an alternate diagnosis of babesiosis (i.e., if the travel history wasn ' t known), then PCR could be performed. In this case, the presence of hemozoin and elongated gametocytes allows us to rule out babesiosis from the differe...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 20, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 710
 This post is in recognition of Valentine ' s day while also keeping in our theme of parasites in muscle. The organ of interest this week is the heart of course! The following objects were seen in a endomyocardial biopsy from a patient with unexplained heart failure. What is your diagnosis?    (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 14, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Answer to Case 710
Answer to the Parasite Case of the Week 710:Trypanosoma cruziamastigotes forming a pseudocyst in cardiac muscle. Note that you can make out the nucleus and kinetoplast of some of the amastigotes:While I posted this on Valentine ' s day, Chagas disease is actually a story of heartbreak. Here is a rather poignant poem aboutTrypanosoma cruzi by @DrCindyCooper:Fortunately treatment can be effective when the disease is caught early. April 14th is World Chagas Disease day, where the WHO and partners raise awareness pf this " silent disease " that affects mainly poor people with limited access to health care.  (Source: ...
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 12, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs

Case of the Week 709
 Since we are on the theme of parasites in muscle, here is another case from my archive. What parasite is shown here? (Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites)
Source: Creepy Dreadful Wonderful Parasites - February 7, 2023 Category: Parasitology Source Type: blogs