This week's case is from Dr. Steven Ruhoy and Tracie Rose. The patient is an elderly woman with a very itchy rash which is worse at night. The family practitioner noted excoriations on the plantar aspect, but did not see any definitive burrows. She performed a skin scraping which revealed the following on H&E-stained histologic section. What is your identification?
2 comments:
Pediculus humanis
The general morphology fits that of an insect or arthropod with a head, thorax and segmented abdomen. On the top of the head there is a series of round or circular organs suggesting complex eyes typical of insects, the thorax bears legs. The abdomen has segmentations, an oval large object suggests the presence of an egg. Following the lead of the previous comment, I would agree on the identification of a body louse and the symptoms also indicate Pediculus humanus. The more common head louse seldom ventures that far from its own niche.
Florida Fan
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