
The diagnosis for mystery case #7
The patient was from Africa, and she had been tested HIV-positive.
The cells in row 4 were not WBC’s – but Cryptococcus. As many of you recognized!
The patient was very ill when she came to the hospital, and it took several months to cure her from the Cryptococcus infection.
Cryptococcus is a type of yeast, which has a capsule surrounding the cell.
The organisms are round to oval yeast-like fungi from 3,5 to 8 µm in size, with a thick mucopolysaccharide capsule. The capsule is often visible as a clear area around a central core.
Thank you Margit Grome and Lennarth Friis-Hansen for sharing this case!
The image below shows a monocyte digesting Cryptococcus.
cryptococcus
Cryptococcus is a rare case in Africa.People don’t live with pets.Thanks for sharing your findings.
Thank You for alle Your answers and comments. Most of You agreed in the Cryptococcus findings.
In Denmark it is very rare to have this kind of infection. So that’s why we thought it was a good idea to share the photos with others.
Probably it is much more common in other areas (Fx Africa ?) .
you are doing a good job in sharing your knowledge,i hope that there will be more mystery cells to come….i can’t wait for the next one….
Thank you for sharing this case with everyone. It is a great teaching case.