Eosinophilic pleuritis due to sparganum: a case report

Sparganosis is a rare parasitic disease caused by migrating plerocercoid tapeworm larva of the genus Spirometra. Infection in humans is mainly caused by the ingestion of raw or inadequately cooked flesh of infected frogs, snakes, and chickens. Here, we report a rare case of a 45-year-old man who was...

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Published inKorean journal of parasitology Vol. 52; no. 5; pp. 541 - 543
Main Authors Oh, Youngmin, Kim, Jeong-Tae, Kim, Mi-Kyeong, Chang, You-Jin, Eom, Keeseon, Park, Jung-Gi, Lee, Ki-Man, Choe, Kang-Hyeon, An, Jin-Young
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Korea (South) The Korean Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine 01.10.2014
Subjects
Animals
Anthelmintics - therapeutic use
Case Report
Eosinophilia - etiology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Pleurisy - etiology
Praziquantel - therapeutic use
Sparganosis - complications
Sparganosis - diagnosis
Sparganum - isolation & purification
Sparganosis
eosinophilic pleural effusion
DNA sequencing
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Summary:Sparganosis is a rare parasitic disease caused by migrating plerocercoid tapeworm larva of the genus Spirometra. Infection in humans is mainly caused by the ingestion of raw or inadequately cooked flesh of infected frogs, snakes, and chickens. Here, we report a rare case of a 45-year-old man who was admitted to our hospital with left lower chest pain. The chest radiograph and computed tomography (CT) scan revealed localized pleural effusion in the left lower lobe; further, peripheral blood eosinophilia and eosinophilic pleural effusion were present. Percutaneous catheter drainage was performed, which revealed long worm-shaped material that was identified as a sparganum by DNA sequencing. The patient showed clinical improvement after drainage of the sparganum. This study demonstrates the importance of considering parasitic diseases in the differential diagnosis of eosinophilic pleural effusion.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Case Study-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:1738-0006
0023-4001
1738-0006
DOI:10.3347/kjp.2014.52.5.541