A 65-year-old man was brought to the ER for altered mental status for 12 hours. At ER, the patient was lethargic with hyperthermia. The laboratory studies revealed intravascular hemolysis with anemia, hyperkalemia, and elevated LDH. The abdominal CT showed liver abscess with marked aerobilia. Respiratory condition deteriorated rapidly, necessitating intubation. A massive amount of blood exuded ...

Buffy coat smears from febrile patients may contain visible bacteria and therefore detect bacteraemia before conventional blood cultures become positive. However, it is unusual to see micro-organisms in an otherwise untreated peripheral blood smear. The case of a febrile neutropenic patient is reported. A Wright's stained peripheral blood smear contained bacterial elements, thus making earlier ...

A 2-month-old girl, who was current on her immunizations and had no prior illness, presented to the emergency department with a 2-week history of progressive cough and shortness of breath. A chest radiograph revealed bilateral peribronchial thickening. Complete blood count results revealed a white blood cell count of 38.6 3 10/L (71% lymphocytes, 19% segmented neutrophils, 6% monocytes, 3% band...

The blood samples were sent to the lab for further investigations. A comple te b lood count showed hemoconcentration, leucopenia and thrombocytopenia. Hb 15.1 gm/dl, total WBC count 1.93 x 109/L, (myelocyte 1%, metamyelocyte 4%, band forms 14%, segmented neutrophi ls 30% lymphocytes 47% and monocytes 4%.) and platelet count 102 x 109/L. Peripheral blood smear demonstrated leucopenia with shif t...

Macrocytosis, generally defined as a mean corpuscular volume greater than 100 fL, is frequently encountered when a complete blood count is performed. The most common etiologies are alcoholism, vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies, and medications. History and physical examination, vitamin B12 level, reticulocyte count, and a peripheral smear are helpful in delineating the underlying cause of mac...

In 2 non-governmental organization projects in Bangladesh 244 new leprosy patients were classified in the field according to clinical criteria. Skin smears were taken at 4 standardized sites and at the most active peripheral lesion, where a biopsy was also taken. Comparison of the clinical field classification with the results of the skin smears and biopsies gives a sensitivity of 92.1% for the...