How would you describe a wet mount slide?

In a wet mount, the specimen is placed in a drop of water or other liquid held between the slide and the cover slip by surface tension. This method is commonly used, for example, to view microscopic organisms that grow in pond water or other liquid media, especially when studying their movement and behavior.

What can be viewed on a wet mount?

Protozoan trophozoites, cysts, oocysts, and helminth eggs and larvae may be seen and identified using a wet mount identification technique. To prepare a wet mount, obtain a microscope slide and the stool specimen. Take a small amount of the specimen and place it on a microscope slide.

What is wet mount attribute to the quality of the specimen?

What is a wet mount? In a wet mount, the specimen is suspended in a drop of liquid (usually water) located between slide and cover glass. The water refractive index of the water improves the image quality and also supports the specimen.

What makes a wet mount specimen wet?

A wet mount is made by placing a fluid solution on a slide, suspending a specimen in a solution, and then covering the specimen and the solution with a cover slide. Why would use a wet mount? To increase the specimens translucency and to make it easier to stain.

What’s the difference between a wet mount and a smear?

Matthew Wosnitzer, MD, is a board-certified urologic surgeon and physician scientist. He specializes in male infertility. In a women’s health exam, a wet mount is a slide made from a vaginal swab. It is also known as a vaginal smear.

What to look for in a vaginal wet mount?

A sample of the vaginal discharge is placed on a glass slide and mixed with a salt solution. The slide is looked at under a microscope for bacteria, yeast cells, trichomoniasis (trichomonads), white blood cells that show an infection, or clue cells that show bacterial vaginosis.

Can a Pap smear be done with a wet mount test?

If you think you have vaginal infection, your doctor will probably perform a test called a vaginal wet mount, or vaginal smear. It’s not the same as a Pap test, which is a regularly scheduled exam that looks for cancerous or precancerous cells in the cervix. But you could have a vaginal wet mount and a Pap smear at the same appointment.

When do you get your results from a wet mount test?

A vaginal wet mount (sometimes called a vaginal smear) is a test to find the cause of vaginitis, or inflammation of the vagina and the area around the vagina (vulva). Your doctor may talk to you about the results after the test. If the sample needs to be looked at by a lab, the results may be ready in 1 to 2 days.