Giardia lamblia infection diagnosed by endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration

• Published in: Diagnostic cytopathology Vol. 35; no. 6; pp. 363 - 365
• Main Authors: Carter, J. Elliot, Nelson, John J., Eves, Matthew, Boudreaux, Carole
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.06.2007
• Subjects: Animals; aspiration; Biopsy, Fine-Needle; endoscopic; Endosonography; Giardia lamblia; Giardia lamblia - isolation & purification; Giardiasis - diagnosis; Giardiasis - diagnostic imaging; Giardiasis - parasitology; Giardiasis - pathology; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; protozoa; Trophozoites; ultrasound
• ISSN: 8755-1039; 1097-0339
• DOI: 10.1002/dc.20636

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. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2007;35:363–365. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.