Our pathologist spoke to the ordering physician and told him he
thought it was an early form of a crab louse. The physician did not
seem surprised and said he would treat her with the appropriate
shampoo. I'm sorry I didn't have a picture to post, but that's where
the case has ended up.
Thank you everyone for your postings. I appreciate it.
Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP)
Microbiology
Bob/Judy Dilworth wrote:
>> The director of our lab's cytology department brought a PAP smear in
> to microbiology today. On the slide was an organism that resembled a
> louse, but it was very round with nothing sticking out and not
> elongated. The whole organism was easily visualized under 45X
> objective. I'm sorry I didn't get accurate measurements. There were
> no visible legs, but we couldn't tell if it was curled up or not. On
> the back end were approximately eight tiny hairs arranged singly that
> were arranged four on each side and continued up half way up the
> body. Under oil immersion it almost looked as if it were emerging
> from some sort of egg case.
>> I have searched many parasitology web sites and cannot find any
> pictures of any early stages of crab lice. It really doesn't look
> like this organism to me. Do pubic or other lice have a larval stage
> per se? Where might I find pictures of these if they exist? Most of
> us in our department have only ever seen nits and adults. We only saw
> one organism on the thin prep and they were going to make another to
> see if they could find more.
>> Anyone have a clue as to what this may be? I wish I had a picture but
> I don't. I personally think this is an incidental finding, but
> apparently the woman had some pathology that may or may not have
> something to do with this organism.
>> Thanks for any help.
>> Judy Dilworth, M.T. (ASCP)
> Microbiology
