April, 2003

Case 105:
A 33-year-old man coughed up a worm after eating raw fish.  The worm was submitted to the Connecticut Department of Public Health Laboratory for identification and then forwarded to CDC for consultation.  The worm was initially identified as a nematode measuring 2.5 to 3.0 cm in length.  The following images were taken of the worm after it was cleared with lacto-phenol for 1.5 hours.  What is your diagnosis?  Based on what criteria?

A	B

Click here for the answer to Case 105.

Case 106:
A 27-year-old woman sought treatment for intermittent diarrhea and mild abdominal pain one week after returning from a camping trip in Washington state.  She and three friends had camped in the Lewis and Clark Trail State Park, but her friends did not have any symptoms even though they all ate the same food.  She submitted a stool specimen for ova and parasite (O & P) testing.  The image below shows an object that was seen in very low numbers on an unstained wet mount prepared from a formalin ethyl-acetate concentrated (FEA) stool specimen.  What is your diagnosis?  Based on what criteria?

A

Click here for the answer to Case 106.

Images presented in the monthly case studies are from specimens submitted for diagnosis or archiving.  On rare occasions, clinical histories given may be partly fictitious.