Naegleria infection laboratory findings
Naegleria Infection Microchapters |
Diagnosis |
---|
Treatment |
Case Studies |
Naegleria infection laboratory findings On the Web |
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Naegleria infection laboratory findings |
Risk calculators and risk factors for Naegleria infection laboratory findings |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Please help WikiDoc by adding more content here. It's easy! Click here to learn about editing.
Overview
Laboratory Findings
In Naegleria infections, the diagnosis can be made by microscopic examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). A wet mount may detect motile trophozoites, and a Giemsa-stained smear will show trophozoites with typical morphology. In Acanthamoeba infections, the diagnosis can be made from microscopic examination of stained smears of biopsy specimens (brain tissue, skin, cornea) or of corneal scrapings, which may detect trophozoites and cysts. Confocal microscopy or cultivation of the causal organism, and its identification by direct immunofluorescent antibody, may also prove useful. An increasing number of PCR-based techniques (conventional and real-time PCR) have been described for detection and identification of free-living amebic infections in the clinical samples listed above. Such techniques may be available in selected reference diagnostic laboratories.