Case #286 - October, 2010
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A 21-year-old man attending a local music festival developed intermittent diarrhea and abdominal cramps on the second day. He went to his health care provider who requested a stool specimen for routine testing. Figures A-E show what was observed on a wet mount prepared from a formalin-ethyl acetate (FEA) concentration at 1000x oil magnification. The objects in Figures A and B measured 30 micrometers on average in length; the objects in Figures C-E measured 20 micrometers on average in length. What is your diagnosis? Based on what criteria?
Figure A
Figure B
Figure C
Figure D
Figure E
Case Answer
The correct diagnosis for this case was No Parasites Found (NPF). Figures A and B showed Charcot-Leyden crystals. Figures C-E showed pollen grains. Note that the cell walls appeared striated, as in the eggs of Taenia spp., but the size and internal morphology were not consistent with that genus.
More on: Artifacts
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.
DPDx is an education resource designed for health professionals and laboratory scientists. For an overview including prevention and control visit www.cdc.gov/parasites/.
- Page last reviewed: August 24, 2016
- Page last updated: August 24, 2016
- Content source:
- Global Health – Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria
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