ABSTRACT

The morphological diagnosis of intestinal protozoa is a widely accepted method today. A permanent staining method is preferred since it can visualize the morphological details of protozoal cysts and it allows the stool specimens to be reevaluated later. In this study, 2141 stool specimens sent to the clinical microbiology laboratory of the Gazi University Hospital were examined using the trichrome staining method. We determined 181 parasitic organisms in 165 (7.70%) of these 2141 specimens. Helminthic organisms were detected in seven of these samples. Protozoa were found in 174 specimens evaluated with the trichrome staining method. In our study, trichrome staining was found to be 87.93% successful in the identification of intestinal protozoa. In conclusion, it was seen that the trichrome staining method could make a reliable diagnosis possible when used in addition to the direct examination of the stool specimens in the identification of intestinal pathogenic and nonpathogenic protozoa to the species level.

Keywords: Protozoa, stool, trichrome staining