Morphological diagnosis of parvovirus B19 infection. A cytopathic effect easily recognized in air-dried, formalin-fixed bone marrow smears stained with hematoxylin-eosin or Wright-Giemsa.

Readily identifiable intranuclear inclusions characterize parvovirus B19 cytopathic effect in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded material. Such inclusions are not apparent in air-dried smears of bone marrow aspirates. Brief formalin fixation of bone marrow smears, followed by either hematoxylin-eosin or Wright-Giemsa staining, permitted easy detection of parvovirus B19 inclusions in material from a renal transplant recipient with parvovirus B19 infection documented serologically and by electron microscopy. Formalin fixation of bone marrow and peripheral blood smears before hematoxylin-eosin or Wright-Giemsa staining may simplify the morphological diagnosis of parvovirus B19 infection.