Sparganosis is a parasitic infection caused by the plerocercoid tapeworm larva of the genus Spirometra. Although the destination of the larva is often a tissue or muscle in the chest, abdominal wall, extremities, eyes, brain, urinary tract, spinal canal, and scrotum, intramuscular sparganosis is uncommon and therefore is difficult to distinguish from a soft tissue tumor. We report a case of intramuscular sparganosis involving the gastrocnemius muscle in an elderly patient who was diagnosed using ultrasonography and MRI and treated by surgical excision. At approximately 1 cm near the schwannoma at the right distal sciatic nerve, several spargana worms were detected and removed.
Aged ; Animals ; Histocytochemistry ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Microscopy ; Muscle, Skeletal/*parasitology/*pathology/surgery ; Sparganosis/*diagnosis/parasitology/*pathology/surgery ; Spirometra/*isolation & purification ; Ultrasonography