Blood smears are a great addition to the evaluation of patients with Lyme disease. The smears must be performed within an hour of drawing the blood. I now include this procedure in my office as a routine part of the evaluation of my patients.
My next blogs will highlight a series of my blood smear results.
An 18 year old female presents with a complete inability to function. She suffers with severe, unrelenting fatigue, migratory joint pains of both small and large joints, brain fog -- and when asked: recurring flu-like symptoms, low grade fevers, severe night sweats and air hunger.
She has a longstanding history of learning disabilities as well as ADD and depression.
At age 5 she had a "spider bite" associated with a rash. In addition, her mother, a lifelong avid gardener, with a history of severe Lyme disease was likely infected during her pregnancy with my patient.
Her laboratory work was "CDC positive" for Lyme. Serological tests for B. microti and B. duncani were both negative.
This Giemsa blood smear shows typical findings of Babesia, confirming the clinical impression. There are numerous species of Babesia which cause human disease, some known and others unknown. It is not possible to "speciate" these findings.
1 comment:
Hello Dr. Jalier,
Thanks for the great slides!
When you say "The tiny dot at the bottom of the slide is typical of Bartonella-like organisms.", does that mean that it could be Bartonella? or are you saying is like Bartonella, but not Bartonella?
Thanks!
Eric
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