23 January 2023 (Monday) - NEQAS 2208 BF

 

A month ago I did the NEQAS morphology exercise 2208BF. The results came in today

 

2208 BF1

 

I said   Rbc Acanthocytes Malaria (P. falciparum)   Wbc Left shift neuts Early myeloid cells (meta/myelo) smear cells   Plts Giant plts Thrombocytopenia

Consensus Top Ten Features   Plasmodium falciparum Thrombocytopenia Echinocytes/Crenated Cells Large/Giant Platelets Band Form Neutrophils Left Shift Reactive/Plasmacytoid Lymphocytes Atypical/Suspect Reactive Lymphocytes Nucleated RBCs Cytoplasmic Vacuolation

 

I said this was “Malaria Infection, P, falciparum. Parasitaemia 11%. When reporting

malaria would normally use different pH to the one supplied”

 

It was indeed malaria, but reported parasitaemias ranged from five to thirty per cent…

 

2208 BF2

 

I said   Rbc   hypochromia microcytosis pencil cells   Wbc Neutropenic   Plts Clumps

Consensus Top Ten Features   Platelet Clumps Hypochromic Cells Elliptocytes Microcytes Neutropenia Pencil Cells Rouleaux Poikilocytes Echinocytes/Crenated Cells Ovalocytes

 

I said this was either an iron deficiency or thalassemia. It was thalassemia.

I’m quite pleased about these two…