Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Out of Crime

This smear is seen from a woman who had an uncomplicated UTI treated with an oral agent 100 mg twice daily for 7 days. This agent is only used for E coli UTI.

Challenge: What caused the finding shown in the blood smear?

Image shown under fair use.

2 comments:

Alex said...

bite cells.. g6pd?

sulfonamides?

Craig said...

Out of Crime

This is G6PD (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) deficiency. The arrows indicate bite cells where Heinz bodies have been removed (Take a Bite out of Crime). The drug described here is nitrofurantoin, an agent only used for uncomplicated E coli UTI (and prophylaxis). It can trigger G6PD hemolytic anemia.

Sources: UpToDate; academic.marist.edu.