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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences 2014; 06(05): 227-234
DOI: 10.4103/1947-489X.210391
Pathology Corner

The morphologic identification of common organisms that may look alike in the general pathology practice: A brief review

Jenna Boué
1   Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina, 28035, USA
,
Basil Kahwash
2   University of Toledo College of Medicine, Toledo, Ohio, 43606, USA
,
Sean Kirby
3   Department of Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 43210, USA
,
Samir Kahwash
4   Department of Pathology, Nationwide Children's Hospital, 700 Children's Drive, Columbus OH 43205
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Surgical Pathologists often rely on morphologic features in identifying organisms in their general practice. The aim of this paper is to provide a brief practical and illustrated reference, comparing the morphologic features of organisms commonly encountered in the general practice of pathology. This comparison will focus on pairs of organisms that may look alike, resulting in diagnostic difficulties. These paired look–alike organisms include: Histoplasma Capsulatum versus Pneumocystis, Falciparum Malaria versus Babesia Microti, Pseudohyphae (of Candida) versus True Fungal Hyphae (of Aspergillus), Septate Hyphae (as in Aspergillus) versus Aseptate Hyphae (as in Mucor), Fungal Hyphae versus Artifact, and Antibiotic-Altered Bacteria versus Other organisms. Key distinguishing morphologic features are compared to help avoid diagnostic pitfalls.

Key-words:

Organisms - Morphologic Diagnosis


Publication History

Received: 09 April 2014

Accepted: 08 July 2014

Article published online:
07 July 2022

© 2014. The Libyan Authority of Scientific Research and Technologyand the Libyan Biotechnology Research Center. All rights reserved. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License,permitting copying and reproductionso long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, oradapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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