Sparganosis is an infection with a parasitic tapeworm larva that occurs by eating infected foods or drinking contaminated water. The larvae can migrate to a tissue or muscle in the chest, abdominal wall, extremities, eyes, brain, urinary tract, pleura, pericardium, spinal canal, or scrotum. Herein, we report a 5-month old infant with scrotal sparganosis who was initially suspected to have a scrotal inflammatory mass with a history of applying raw frog meat into the umbilicus. Preoperative ultrasound examinations and computed tomography (CT) scanning misdiagnosed the mass as a scrotal teratoma. The scrotal mass was surgically removed, and the histopathology proved it to be scrotal sparganosis. This case displays the youngest patient ever reported with scrotal sparganosis, and the first description of CT characteristics of scrotal sparganosis. A detailed medical history is necessary for patients with scrotal masses suspected of sparganosis. In addition, ultrasound and CT examinations are helpful to rule out other causes of a scrotal mass.
Anthelmintics/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Praziquantel/therapeutic use ; Sparganosis/*diagnosis/*pathology/therapy

Cerebral cysticercosis is the most common worldwide parasitic infection of the central nervous system. Intraventricular involvement is apparent in 15% to 28.8% of cases with neural compartment infestation.' Although different forms of the disease (parenchymatous, subarachnoid, and mixed form ) have been treated successfully with chemotherapy, direct surgical excision of simple cystic lesions appears to be an adequate primary therapeutic strategy in the majority of intraventricular forms. In recent years, however, some authors have advocated the use of anthelmintic treatment in all cases of intraventricular cysts so that surgical procedures of the posterior fossa and their potential complications can be avoided. The strict definition for managing the spectrum of intraventricular infestation remains controversial. We present our experience in the treatment of a patient with primary isolated intraventricular cysticercosis.
Albendazole ; therapeutic use ; Anthelmintics ; therapeutic use ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Neurocysticercosis ; therapy ; Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt

Cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) is a rare serpiginous cutaneous eruption caused by accidental penetration and migration in the skin with infective larvae of nematode that normally do not have the human as their host. Although CLM has a worldwide distribution, the infection is most frequent in warmer climates. More recently, they have been increasingly imported from the tropics or subtropics by travelers. We experienced two patients who had pruritic serpiginous linear eruption in their skin for a few weeks after traveling to the endemic areas (Brazil and Thailand, respectively). After the treatment with albendazole, the skin lesions resolved with post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. We report herein two cases of cutaneous larva migrans successfully treated with albendazole.
Adult ; Albendazole/therapeutic use ; Anthelmintics/therapeutic use ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Human ; Larva Migrans/*drug therapy/pathology ; Male ; *Travel ; Treatment Outcome

Three cases of cutaneous larva migrans (CLM) were diagnosed in a returnee from a trip to Thailand and in 2 domestic farmers during July and September, 2003. The linear and serpiginous skin lesions on the lower extremities were presented in all 3 cases. Routine laboratory findings were normal. In the imported case, a 650 x 30 micrometer sized filariform nematode larva, presumably a species of hookworm, was detected in the lesion. All cases were treated with 400 mg albendazole once daily for 3-5 days, and their skin lesions gradually improved. In the present study, a causative agent of CLM was isolated for the first time in the Republic of Korea. Moreover, we speculate that CLM is prevalent in farmers who are in frequent contact with soil in the Republic of Korea.
Middle Aged ; Male ; Larva Migrans/*diagnosis/drug therapy/*pathology ; Humans ; Female ; Anthelmintics/therapeutic use ; Albendazole/therapeutic use ; Aged ; Adult

No abstract available.
Abdomen/pathology ; Animals ; Anthelmintics/therapeutic use ; Bronchi/pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paragonimiasis/*diagnosis/drug therapy/parasitology ; Paragonimus westermani/isolation & purification ; Praziquantel/therapeutic use ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

A 69-year-old Korean man was admitted to emergency room with complaints of abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. Laboratory tests revealed eosinophilia, anemia, hypoproteinemia, and hyponatremia. The gastric mucosa showed whitish mottled and slightly elevated lesions on the body angle of antrum. Microscopically, chronic gastritis with incomplete intestinal metaplasia was observed. Many adult worms, larvae, and eggs in cross sections were located in the crypts. Furthermore, the filariform larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis with a notched tail were detected through the culture.
Aged ; Albendazole/therapeutic use ; Animals ; Anthelmintics/therapeutic use ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; Humans ; Intestines/parasitology ; Korea ; Male ; Strongyloides stercoralis/*isolation & purification ; Strongyloidiasis/*diagnosis/drug therapy/parasitology

Human toxocariasis is a helminthozoonosis due to the migration of Toxocara species larvae through human organism. Humans become infected by ingesting either embryonated eggs from soil (geophagia, pica), dirty hands or raw vegetables, or larvae from undercooked giblets. The diagnosis relies upon sensitive immunological methods (ELISA or western-blot) which use Toxocara excretory-secretory antigens. Seroprevalence is high in developed countries, especially in rural areas, and also in some tropical islands. The clinical spectrum of the disease comprises four syndromes, namely visceral larva migrans, ocular larva migrans, and the more recently recognized "common" (in adults) and "covert" (in children) pictures. Therapy of ocular toxocariasis is primarily based upon corticosteroids use, when visceral larva migrans and few cases of common or covert toxocariasis can be treated by anthelmintics whose the most efficient appeared to be diethylcarbamazine. When diagnosed, all of these syndromes require thorough prevention of recontamination (especially by deworming pets) and sanitary education.
Animals ; Anthelmintics/therapeutic use ; Antibodies, Helminth/blood ; Biological Markers/blood ; Diethylcarbamazine/therapeutic use ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Human ; Immunoglobulin E/blood ; *Larva Migrans, Visceral/diagnosis/epidemiology ; Toxocara/immunology

Human alveolar echinococcosis (AE), a hepatic disorder that resembles liver cancer, is a highly aggressive and lethal zoonotic infection caused by the larval stage of the fox tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis. E. multilocularis is widely distributed in the northern hemisphere; the disease-endemic area stretches from north America through Europe to central and east Asia, including northern parts of Japan, but it has not been reported in Korea. Herein, we represent a first case of AE in Korea. A 41-year-old woman was found to have a large liver mass on routine medical examination. The excised mass showed multinodular, necrotic, and spongiform appearance with small irregular pseudocystic spaces. Microscopically, the mass was composed of chronic granulomatous inflammation with extensive coagulation necrosis and parasite-like structure, which was revealed as parasitic vesicles and laminated layer delineated by periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) stain. Clinical and histologic features were consistent with AE. After 8 years, a new liver mass and multiple metastatic pulmonary nodules were found and the recurred mass showed similar histologic features to the initial mass. She had never visited endemic areas of AE, and thus the exact infection route is unclear.
Adult ; Albendazole/*therapeutic use ; Animals ; Anthelmintics/*therapeutic use ; Echinococcosis, Hepatic/*diagnosis/drug therapy/surgery ; Echinococcus/isolation & purification ; Female ; Humans ; Liver/*pathology/radiography ; Recurrence ; Republic of Korea ; Treatment Outcome ; Zoonoses

This report describes clinical and parasitological findings of an 82-yr-old female patient who lived in a local rural village and suffered from severe chronic anemia for several years. She was transferred to the National Police Hospital in Seoul for management of severe dyspnea and dizziness. At admission, she showed symptoms or signs of severe anemia. Gastroduodenoscopy observed hyperemic mucosa of the duodenum and discovered numerous moving roundworms on the mucosa. Endoscopy isolated seven of them, which were identified as Necator americanus by characteristic morphology of cutting plates in the buccal cavity. The patient was treated with albendazole and supportive measures for anemia, and her physical condition much improved. This case suggests the possibility that hookworm N. americanus is still transmitted in a remote local mountainous area in Korea.
Aged, 80 and over ; Albendazole/therapeutic use ; Anemia/*diagnosis/parasitology ; Animals ; Anthelmintics/therapeutic use ; Duodenoscopy ; Female ; Gastroscopy ; Humans ; *Necator americanus/isolation & purification ; Necatoriasis/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Republic of Korea

Only a few cases of Acanthocephala infections have been reported in humans, and Moniliformis moniliformis is the most common species around the world. We report here a case of infection with M. moniliformis, which passed in the stool of a 2-year-old girl in Iran. The patient had abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and facial edema. According to her mother, the patient had habit of eating dirt and once a cockroach was discovered in her mouth. In stool examination, eggs of M. moniliformis were not found. She was treated with levamisole and the clinical symptoms reduced within 2 weeks. The specimen contained 2 pieces of a female worm with a total length of 148 mm lacking the posterior end. The spiral musculature of the proboscis receptacle and the shape of the trunk allowed its generic determination. Previously 2 cases of M. moniliformis infection were reported in Iran. This is the 3rd case of M. moniliformis infection in Iran.
Animals ; Anthelmintics/therapeutic use ; Child, Preschool ; Feces/parasitology ; Female ; Helminthiasis/drug therapy/*parasitology/pathology ; Humans ; Iran ; Levamisole/therapeutic use ; Moniliformis/anatomy & histology/*isolation & purification