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Monthy Case Studies - 2003
Case #106 - April, 2003
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?
Figure A
Answer to Case #106
The object shown in the image was a morel mushroom spore, and a diagnosis was given of No Parasites Found (NPF). These spores are from edible mushrooms of the genus Morchella and can be found in human stool specimens. The spores are found in two sizes: 56 to 60 micrometers long by about 15 micrometers wide or 23 micrometers long by 13 micrometers wide. The size and shape of the smaller form, as shown in this case, can easily be mistaken for a small trematode egg such as a heterophyid.
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.
