
Case #252 - May, 2009
A 29-year-old man from Haiti had blood drawn for routine work-up, following hospitalization for complications with a congenital disorder. The blood was collected in EDTA tubes and sent to Hematology and Microbiology for evaluation. The following images show what was observed on a Giemsa-stained thick smear of the blood. The object measured 270 micrometers in length. The image in Figure A was captured at 500x magnification; the images in Figures B and C, which show close-ups of the two ends of the same object, were taken at 1000x magnification. What is your diagnosis? Based on what criteria?

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C
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.
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- Page last updated: August 24, 2016
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