As gastroduodenoscopy performed more frequently, case reports of human echinostomiasis are increasing in Korea. A Korean woman presented at a local clinic with complaints of abdominal pain and discomfort that had persisted for 2 weeks. Under gastroduodenoscopy, two motile flukes were found attached on the duodenal bulb, and retrieved with endoscopic forceps. She had history of eating raw frog meat. The two flukes were identified as Echinostoma hortense by egg morphology, 27 collar spines with 4 end-group spines, and surface ultrastructural characters. This report may prove frogs to be a source of human echinostome infections.
Animals ; Duodenal Diseases/*parasitology ; Duodenum/*parasitology ; Echinostoma/*isolation & purification ; Echinostomiasis/*diagnosis ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged

Human cases of echinostomiasis have been sporadically diagnosed by extracting worms in the endoscopy in Korea and Japan. Most of these were caused by Echinostoma hortense infection. However, in the present study, we detected 2 live worms of Echinostoma cinetorchis in the ascending colon of a Korean man (68-year old) admitted to the Gyeongsang National University Hospital with complaint of intermittent right lower quadrant abdominal pain for 5 days. Under colonoscopy, 1 worm was found attached on the edematous and hyperemic mucosal surface of the proximal ascending colon and the other was detected on the mid-ascending colon. Both worms were removed from the mucosal surface with a grasping forceps, and morphologically identified as E. cinetorchis by the characteristic head crown with total 37 collar spines including 5 end-group ones on both sides, disappearance of testes, and eggs of 108x60 microm with abopercular wrinkles. The infection source of this case seems to be the raw frogs eaten 2 months ago. This is the first case of endoscopy-diagnosed E. cinetorchis infection in Korea.
Aged ; Animals ; Colon/*parasitology ; Colonoscopy ; Echinostoma/anatomy & histology/classification/*isolation & purification ; Echinostomiasis/*diagnosis/parasitology ; Humans ; Korea ; Male

A human Echinostoma hortense infection was diagnosed by gastroduodenoscopy. An 81-year-old Korean male, living in Yeongcheon-shi, Gyeongsangbuk-do and with epigastric discomfort of several days duration, was subjected to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. He was in the habit of eating fresh water fish. Two live worms were found in the duodenal bulb area and were removed using an endoscopic forcep. Based on their morphological characteristics, the worms were identified as E. hortense. The patient was treated with praziquantel 10 mg/kg as a single dose. The source of the infection in this case remains unclear, but the fresh water fish consumed, including the loach, may have been the source. This is the second case of E. hortense infection diagnosed by endoscopy in Korea.
Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Duodenal Diseases/*diagnosis/drug therapy/parasitology ; Echinostoma/*growth & development ; Echinostomiasis/*diagnosis/drug therapy/parasitology ; Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal ; Female ; Fishes/parasitology ; Food Parasitology ; Human ; Korea ; Male ; Praziquantel/therapeutic use