Giardia lamblia infection diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration.
The protozoan Giardia lamblia is a major cause of gastrointestinal disease worldwide. We report the case of a 59-yr-old male who presented to his primary care physician with complaints of abdominal pain and weight loss. Imaging studies revealed a liver mass and a pancreatic head mass. Biopsy of the liver mass proved to be benign, and endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration of the mass in the head of the pancreas showed no evidence of malignancy; however, numerous pear-shaped, binucleated, flagellated organisms morphologically consistent with trophozoites of Giardia lamblia were identified in the specimen. With the increasing use of endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration for sampling of gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, and pancreatic lesions, cytopathologists examining such specimens will need to be familiar with the diagnostic characteristics of this protozoal parasite.
Carter
J Elliot
JE
University of South Alabama, Department of Pathology, Mobile, Alabama 36617, USA. ecarter@usouthal.edu
Nelson
John J
JJ
Eves
Matthew
M
Boudreaux
Carole
C
D000818:Animals; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D019160:Endosonography; D016829:Giardia lamblia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D053058:Trophozoites