A festive finding in the blood of an asplenic patient 💉
i❤️histo
A Howell–Jolly body is a cytopathological finding whereby small remnants of nuclear DNA are present in normally anuclear circulating erythrocytes.
During development in the bone marrow, late orthochromatophilic erythroblast normally expel their nuclei. However, in some cases, a small portion of DNA remains (the purple dots in the erythrocytes wearing the Santa hats).
Under normal circumstances if these irregular erythrocytes make it into the blood, they are removed from circulation by the spleen.
As a result, the presence of erythrocytes with Howell-Jolly bodies in peripheral blood smears like this usually signifies a damaged or absent spleen - because a healthy spleen would normally filter this type of red blood cell.
A research group has revealed a cobalt-chromium-based biomaterial that mimics the flexibility of human bones and possesses excellent wear resistance. The new biomaterial could be used for implants such as hip or knee joint replacements and bone plates, alleviating problems associated with conventional implant materials.
Details of their research were published in the journal Advanced Materials on May 9, 2022.
With the elderly population increasing across the globe, the need for improved biomaterials that can replace or support damaged bones has risen. For this purpose, metals are widely used because of their strength and ductility. However, as a consequence of their strength, their flexibility diminishes.
To date, most metallic biomaterials are stiffer than human bones, and using them as implants leads to bone atrophy—a condition where bone density is reduced because of a breakdown in bone substance and structure. Meanwhile, biomaterials with elevated flexibility lose their wear resistance.
🏆⚽🐛 The Worm Cup 🐛⚽🏆
The scolex (head) of the intestinal tapeworm looks like the soccer/football World Cup trophy!
i♡histo
www.ihearthisto.com
This image shows the pork tapeworm Taenia solium, an intestinal parasite found in countries where pork is eaten. This is just the head of the worm (the scolex) with its terrifying looking, hooked rostellum which is used to attach itself onto your intestinal wall so that you don’t poop it out easily.
Full grown worms can grow to around two or three meters in length and are composed of numerous segments each of which form their own reproductive unit.
The life cycle of the parasite begins when pigs ingest the tenia solium eggs (from fecal contamination) and these eggs develop into larvae in the pigs which migrate through the intestinal wall and form cysts in the muscle and tissues. Once slaughtered for meat, the larvae can be ingested by humans if the pork is eaten uncooked or undercooked. Once in the human small intestine the larvae grow into the large adult worms where they persist often unnoticed due to the lack of symptoms associated with their existence. The worms release eggs into the intestines which are released during defecation thus completing the cycle.
A major complication of infection with T. solium is Cysticercosis. This is a parasitic tissue infection caused by the larval cysts of the tapeworm. These larval cysts infect brain, muscle, or other tissue, and are a major cause of adult onset seizures. A person only gets cysticercosis by swallowing the eggs found in the feces of a person who has an intestinal tapeworm NOT from contracting a tapeworm by eating undercooked pork itself. So people living in the same household with someone who has a tapeworm have a much higher risk of getting cysticercosis than people who don’t because they can be exposed to the eggs released in the stool.