nbme 13 question

[firstaid2012]

8 year old man has temp of 38.3Cel. a sore throat and cervical lymph node enlargment for eight days. latex agg. test for EBV is positive. Abundant cells with lacey cytoplasm in peripheral blood smear most likely derivd from which of the following

B lymphocytes WRONG
basophils
neutrophils
plasma cells
t lymphocytes this is the right asnwer
whyy dont get this concept always that it was b lymphocytes

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[Myxedema]

Atypical lymphocytes seen in infectious mononucleosis are CD8+ T-cells.

 

[Kaputt]

Even though B cells get infected by EBV, the "atypical"/"reactive" cells you see on blood smears are CD8+ T cells, the effector cells that go out and kill virally infected cells.

B cell gets infected --> secretes cytokines, antigens get presented --> riles up CD8+ T cells --> they go and kill cells infected with the virus

 

[NewYorkDoctors]

yes these atypical cells are also called "Downey cells."

However, that is just for trivia because in the pediatric clinics, the clinicians only ever order for"atypical lymphocytes"

Perhaps a mnemonic for you is: "Hmm the lymphocytes are aTypical... so I should think aTypically..."