Case #210 – August, 2007

A 32-year-old man went to his health care provider with complaints of bloating, intermittent diarrhea, and abdominal cramping. He stated he liked to go camping and hunting and sometimes consumed the fish and game that he caught. The man was asked to provide a stool specimen for testing. The laboratory that performed the testing made a wet mount after using a concentration procedure. Figures A and B show what was observed in low numbers on the slide. The objects ranged in size from 45 to 58 micrometers in diameter. What is your diagnosis? Based on what criteria?

Image A

Image B

The objects were artifacts (probably pollen) and a diagnosis was given of No Parasites Found (NPF). The objects could have been misidentified as helminth eggs. For instance, both Ascaris sp. and Taenia sp. eggs could be within the size range of these objects. However, lack of a striated shell ruled out Taenia sp. and the angular nature of exterior of the objects ruled out Ascaris and other helminth eggs.