Detached ciliary tufts are structures of doubtful pathologic significance that are normally present in many body fluids. However, their existence is not widely appreciated by pathologists practicing routine laboratory medicine. If they are observed, their practical clinicopathologic importance is that, because of their vigorous ciliary motion in wet mounts, they can imitate ciliated protozoa and pose a diagnostic dilemma. The authors present a brief review of the literature on detached ciliary tufts and a morphologic comparison with the more commonly encountered intestinal protozoa.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.