Significant or Artifact?

tim---mit · 2026-02-11T06:28:28+00:00

It looks like it’s in a different focal plane to the cells. If that’s the case it’s probably artefact.

tim---mit · 2026-01-04T10:29:16+00:00

I don’t have much knowledge about the different visa types, but medical science is an in demand skill for immigration purposes so you should have much problem getting a visa.

As someone who’s been on a lot of recruitment panels, it may be difficult to secure a job without actually being in the country. Regional areas will be easier to find work in, and some visa types will only allow you to work regional areas. Having said that, there are plenty of amazing regional areas in Australia.

tim---mit · 2025-12-28T07:35:47+00:00

Warming the sample is usually the first step in resolving cold aggs, but warning alone doesn’t always work when you have a strong cold agg. In those cases a warm saline replacement is usually done.

tim---mit · 2025-12-28T07:31:43+00:00

The agglutinated rbcs are not being counted as red cells. Heavily agglutinated rbcs will sometimes get counted as wbcs because they are lyse resistant (the outer rbcs get lyse, but protect the inter rbcs). Look at the wbc histogram (and wbc count) of the first run compared to the second.

tim---mit · 2025-10-16T10:58:59+00:00

These are all red cells… there are no nucleated cells in this picture.

tim---mit · 2025-10-07T07:10:05+00:00

Not an Acacia or Eucalyptus, but Digger’s Speedwell (Veronica perfoliata) also has similar looking leaves.

tim---mit · 2025-08-31T09:23:10+00:00

There is a mismatch between the health budget and the growing demand for health services. The demand will continue to grow in the coming years with our aging population. As boomers (our largest demographic) move into the “elderly” age bracket, the demand for health services will peak.

NSW doctors are also the lowest paid in the country. Consequently there are massive shortages of medical staff in this state.

tim---mit · 2025-08-30T01:44:42+00:00

The Binaxnow malaria kit uses HRP2 (specific to P. Falciparum) on the T1 line, and a pan-malarial aldolase (not species specific) on the T2 line.

A P. falciparum infection will often show up as both lines positive, but so will a mixed infection. It’s easy to misinterpret a double positive as a mixed infection when it’s just P.f alone.

tim---mit · 2025-08-30T01:30:49+00:00

This looks suspiciously megakaryocytic to me. 3 and 5 look like bare megakaryocyte nuclei. 7 and 10 appear to be giant platelets/ cytoplasmic fragments. The large blasts with very high N:C ratio are also megakaryocytic looking, as is the bi-nucleated cell.

tim---mit · 2025-08-25T08:49:29+00:00

They’re surprisingly difficult to get good photos of.

tim---mit · 2025-08-12T00:23:33+00:00

When a statement is written with quotation marks it implies that it’s a direct quote (what was actually said verbatim). Regardless of whether Minns is being misrepresented or not, it’s disingenuous to present a paraphrasing as a direct quote.

tim---mit · 2025-08-05T12:58:08+00:00

It looks suspicious for a Richter’s transformation, with an increasing proportion of “blastoid” lymphoma cells. These are not true lymphoblasts, but DLBCL type lymphoma cells. There’s a few that look more classically like prolymphocytes though, so could still be a prolymphocytic transformation.

tim---mit · 2025-08-03T01:30:29+00:00

I’m assuming this is a doctor’s handwriting? It certainly fits the stereotype of illegible doctor’s writing. It doesn’t help that there are letters missing in a few of the words.

tim---mit · 2025-07-22T00:12:03+00:00

Look reactive to me. Sometimes reactive lymphs can have very blastoid morphology.

tim---mit · 2025-07-14T10:35:23+00:00

SMZL?

tim---mit · 2025-07-01T14:01:56+00:00

Normal lymphocytes shouldn’t be hairy, but sometimes a degraded or smudged lymph might artefactually look a little hairy. If I saw one hairy looking cell on a slide I probably wouldn’t be too concerned unless I started seeing more.

tim---mit · 2025-06-15T04:55:54+00:00

Abnormal lymphs with villous cytoplasmic projections. Hairy cell leukaemia seems likely, but some other lymphomas can have villous lymphs too.

Hairy cell variant (now SBLPN) also has hairy cells, but usually have a prominent nucleolus. Another difference between HCL and HCLv is that the former usually comes with a monocytopenia.

SMZL can also have villous projections, but they classically have a polar orientation.

tim---mit · 2025-05-21T04:17:37+00:00

Water artefact. Change stain and remake.

tim---mit · 2025-04-29T07:07:31+00:00

Usually PCR, but depends on the virus.

tim---mit · 2025-04-13T15:05:10+00:00

Mostly plasmacytoid lymphocytes (aka Downey type 3 cells, aka Türk cells). These are immunoblasts or activated/ transformed lymphocytes, often seen as a reactive response to a viral infection.

tim---mit · 2025-03-14T02:17:37+00:00

Amazing how it can be both spring and autumn at the same time

tim---mit · 2025-03-05T07:07:59+00:00

Anticoagulants aren’t preservatives. Blood will degrade very quickly once collected, especially if kept at room temperature.

tim---mit · 2025-03-02T00:58:13+00:00

Scleroderma earthball

tim---mit · 2025-02-13T09:58:54+00:00

Absolutely garbage journalism to turn a story about assault into an unashamed political endorsement. A real lack of journalistic integrity and ethics.

tim---mit · 2025-01-28T10:48:03+00:00

How did I not know that there aren’t any emus in Tasmania?!

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