Thick vs Thin film comparison: Difference between revisions
From MalariaETC
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
<span style="font-size:160%; color:navy">Relative merits of thick or thin films in malaria diagnosis</br></span> | <span style="font-size:160%; color:navy">Relative merits of thick or thin films in malaria diagnosis</br></span> | ||
---- | ---- | ||
<span style="font-size:90%;">There is no single correct choice of staining, essentially the thin film has many advantages in terms of ease of preparation, staining and identification. In contrast the thick malarial film offers a single but significant advantage: that of superior sensitivity for parasite detection.< It is important to appreciate these strengths and weaknesses.</span></br></br> | |||
<gallery mode="nolines" heights=200px widths=200px> | <gallery mode="nolines" heights=200px widths=200px> | ||
File:PFET2g.jpg|<span style="font-size:80%">Thin film appearances ''P.falciparum''</span>|link={{filepath:PFET2g.jpg}} | File:PFET2g.jpg|<span style="font-size:80%">Thin film appearances ''P.falciparum''</span>|link={{filepath:PFET2g.jpg}} | ||
Revision as of 11:01, 21 February 2025
Navigation
>Main Malaria Index
>>Thick film - main page
>>>Current page: Thick film vs thin film
Relative merits of thick or thin films in malaria diagnosis
There is no single correct choice of staining, essentially the thin film has many advantages in terms of ease of preparation, staining and identification. In contrast the thick malarial film offers a single but significant advantage: that of superior sensitivity for parasite detection.< It is important to appreciate these strengths and weaknesses.
-
Thin film appearances P.falciparum
-
Thick film appearances P.falciparum
There is no single correct choice of staining, essentially the thin film has many advantages in terms of ease of preparation, staining and identification. In contrast the thick malarial film offers a single but significant advantage: that of superior sensitivity for parasite detection.< It is important to appreciate these strengths and weaknesses.
| 1. Sensitivity for detection |
|---|
| Thick film: Higher - can detect lower levels of parasitaemia ~5–10 parasites/µL |
| Thin film: Lower - generally requires ~50 parasites/µL for reliable detection |
| 2. Species Identification |
| Poor: poor - red cell morphology is lost and species-specific features may not be seen |
| Thin film: Good - both parasite morphology and RBC characteristics are assessed |
| 3. Quantification of parasite number |
| Difficult: red cells are not seen so requires estimation and is therefore imprecise |
| Easier: parasites can be counted counted directly and assessed as a proportion of red cells |
| 4. Preparation and staining considerations |
| Less easy: requires air drying and careful spreading and staining to minimise any artefact |
| Easier: films are fixed and stained immediately with clearer morphology of parasites and red cells |