December, 2007

Case 217:
A 29-year-old man, with a history of travel to Rwanda, was seen at a local health clinic for fever, headache, mild nausea, and chills.  A blood smear was prepared, stained with Giemsa, and examined at 1000× magnification.  Figures A and B show what was seen on the thin blood smear.  What is your diagnosis?  Based on what criteria?

A	B

Click here for the answer to Case 217.

Case 218:
A 52-year-old man was seen at a hospital for fever and chills.  He reported travel to wooded areas in the Northeastern United States and noted previous tick bites.  For the last case study of the year, you do not have to make a diagnosis since Babesia sp. was identified on a Giemsa-stained blood smear by the hospital laboratory staff.  However, the attending physician would like a parasitemia value to determine how best to manage the care and treatment of the patient.  Using the images provided, please calculate the parasitemia.  Happy holidays!

A	B

C

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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.