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Monthy Case Studies - 2002
Case #83 - May, 2002
A 32-year-old man was admitted to a local hospital with fever and chills. He reported traveling to Africa prior to becoming ill. Routine blood tests were performed upon his admission to the hospital. The images below were made from Giemsa stained blood smears (Figures A, B, C and D). What is your diagnosis? Based on what criteria?
Figure A
Figure B
Figure C
Figure D
Acknowledgement: This case was kindly provided by the Georgia Public Health Laboratory.
Answer to Case #83
This was a case of malaria caused by Plasmodium ovale. The diagnostic features observed included:
- trophozoites with sturdy chromatin in enlarged red blood cells containing Schüffner's dots (Figures A and B).
- rings in red blood cells which were oval, enlarged, and fimbriated (Figure C).
- round to oval gametocytes found filling the red blood cells, which were enlarged and contained Schüffner's dots (Figure D).
More on: Malaria
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.
