Hypereosinophilia is often associated with eosinphilic infiltration of tissue, which can lead to severe and irreversible organ damage. One of the most characteristic and critical complications is development of thrombosis in cardiac ventricles, and occasionally in deep veins. We report a rare case of hypereosinophilia, with peripheral vascular thrombosis, caused by Toxocara canis infection.
Heart Ventricles ; Thrombosis* ; Toxocara canis* ; Toxocariasis ; Veins

Human toxocariasis is a parasitic disease caused by Toxocara canis or Toxocara cati. We report a patient with toxocariasis who presented with dyspnea and left pleural effusion. All patients with toxocariasis in published case reports had serum eosinophilia. This is the first case report of eosinophilic pleural effusion without serum eosinophilia caused by toxocariasis infection, which was confirmed by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Therefore, an antibody ELISA can be useful for diagnosing toxocariasis in patients with a pleural effusion of unknown cause, even in the absence of serum eosinophilia.
Dyspnea ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosinophilia* ; Eosinophils* ; Humans ; Parasitic Diseases ; Pleural Effusion* ; Toxocara ; Toxocara canis ; Toxocariasis*

Toxocara (T.) canis and Trichuris (T.) vulpis are very important canine parasitic nematodes. T. canis parasitize in small intestine and T. vulpis parasitize in large intestine. In order to control of these nematodes, ivermectin and pyrantel pamoate compound was applied to the dogs infected with these parasites naturally and artificially. This drug was composed of 68.0 microg of ivermectin and 57.0 mg of pyrantel pamoate for small animal, 136.0 microg of ivermectin and 114.0 mg of pyrantel pamoate for middle animal, and 272.0 microg of ivermectin and 227.0 mg of pyrantel pamoate for large animal. Ivermectin in this drug is activity to nematodes and ectoparisites. Pyrantel pamoate in this drug is also activity to nematodes. In this experiment, this drug had a good efficacy against T. canis and T. vulpis in the infected dogs.
Animals ; Dogs ; Intestine, Large ; Intestine, Small ; Ivermectin ; Parasites ; Pyrantel ; Pyrantel Pamoate ; Toxocara ; Toxocara canis ; Trichuris

A 41-year-old woman who was diagnosed with myocarditis presented eosinophilia. Since the antibody against Toxocara canis (T. canis) was positive, we diagnosed that she had visceral larva migrans due to T. canis associated with myocarditis. She was treated with oral albendazole and prednisolone for two weeks, eosinophil count and hepatic enzymes were normalized after completion of treatment. This is the first report of myocarditis caused by T. canis infection in Korea.
Adult ; Albendazole ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Larva Migrans, Visceral ; Myocarditis ; Prednisolone ; Toxocara ; Toxocara canis

The present study was carried out to examine the effect of "Cortisone" on the worm burden migrated in the organs, and granulomatous change in the liver of mice infected with Toxocara canis eggs. Daily does of 0.5 mg "Cortisone" was administrated subcutaneously to Toxocara-infected mice with different schedule. The results are summarized as follows: More number of Toxocara larvae migrated into the muscle tissue, especially into the carcass through the wall of the large intestine and higher distribution rate and longer persistence of worms were also recognized in the carcass of the experimental group than in the control. Cortisone administration resulted the inhibition of granuloma formation, as well as the resolution of granuloma in the liver. However, the discontinuation of the administration induced the reccurence of heavier grade of inflammation. In non-cortisone treated group (control), cellular infiltration appeared around the worms in the liver on the 10th day of the infection, and typical granulomatosis was followed on the 20th day. As in above results, it is considered cortisone has remarkable anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects in mice infected with T.canis, but histopathological changes on the granuloma formation might be related closely with the duration of Toxocara infection, dosage, duration and timing of cortisone administration.
parasitology-helminth-nematoda-Toxocara canis ; liver ; mouse ; cortisone

Cardiac involvement in hypereosinophilia is rare; when present, it manifests as ventricular thickening, usually with fibrous tissue and mural thrombosis. We present a case of a 57-year-old man with an abnormal right ventricular apex with eosinophilia, which was caused by Toxocara canis infection.
Echocardiography ; Eosinophilia ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Thrombosis ; Toxocara canis ; Toxocariasis*

Toxocariasis is an infection in a human host caused by Toxocara canis or Toxocara cati larvae. Clinical manifestations are classified according to the organs affected, such as visceral larva migrans (VLM) and ocular larva migrans (OLM). Epidemiological evidence suggests that OLM tends to occur in the absence of systemic involvement and vice versa, which has led to two manifestations of this infection being reclassified as VLM and OLM. No case of a patient with VLM combined with OLM has been reported in Korea. Here, we report a case of VLM combined with OLM in a 51-year-old female caused by massive ingestion of raw cow meat, manyplies, and liver.
Eating ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Larva ; Larva Migrans ; Larva Migrans, Visceral ; Liver ; Meat ; Middle Aged ; Toxocara ; Toxocara canis ; Toxocariasis

The existence of Toxocara canis-specific antibodies has recently been reported in patients with atopic myelitis. Here, we report the case of a 35-year-old male patient admitted with a chief complaint of right lower limb hypoesthesia lasting for a month. The patient was diagnosed with eosinophilic pneumonia 3 months ago, and a spine MRI revealed the presence of myelitis in the cervicothoracic cord. After confirming the presence of hyper-IgE-emia and Toxocara canis antibodies, the patient was treated with steroids and albendazole treatment, which improved his symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first case of Toxocara canis-associated myelitis with eosinophilic pneumonia.
Adult ; Albendazole ; Antibodies ; Eosinophils* ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Lower Extremity ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Myelitis* ; Pulmonary Eosinophilia* ; Spine ; Steroids ; Toxocara canis ; Toxocara*

A 36-year-old women visited hospital with right pleuritic chest pain. Chest X-ray showed right pleural effusion. Hematological examination revealed eosinophilia in peripheral blood (28%) and pleural effusion (90%). ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) for serum parasite-specific IgG antibody was negative. We examined HRCT and thoracoscopic pleural biopsy, but didn't find out the cause of pleural effusion. We found out Toxocara canis excretory-secretory IgE ELISA was positive. One month later, multiple nodular shadows appeared in left upper lung field. We reexamined ELISA for serum Paragonimus westermani IgG antibody, and the result was positive. She was treated with praziquantel for 2 days, and then the lung lesions and pleuritic chest pain disappeared. We report here P. westermani infection in a patient whose serum was negative for the specific IgG antibody by ELISA at earlier stage but became positive later, and whose serum was also positive for Toxocara canis.
Adult ; Biopsy ; Chest Pain ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils* ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunoglobulin G ; Lung ; Paragonimus westermani* ; Paragonimus* ; Pleural Effusion* ; Praziquantel ; Thorax ; Toxocara canis* ; Toxocara*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study was performed to investigate the clinical and serological characteristics of toxocariasis in the Pohang region. METHODS: A total of 145 patients with peripheral eosinophilia (> 450 cells/microL) were enrolled and divided into two groups based on Toxocara excretory-secretory IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) positivity, and the clinical features and serologic markers were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The seropositive rate of Toxocara was 62.1%. The serum total eosinophils (p = 0.038), total IgE level (p < 0.01), Dermatophagoides farinae (Df) seropositivity rate (p < 0.01), frequency of eosinophilic tissue infiltration in the lung or liver (p < 0.01), and ingestion of raw cow meat or liver (p < 0.01) were higher in seropositive patients than in seronegative patients. However, the presence of asthma and rhinitis (p < 0.01) were more frequent in seronegative patients. Among seropositive patients, positive correlations were observed between serum total IgE, total eosinophils, and the optical density value of the Toxocara IgG ELISA (p < 0.01; p = 0.015, respectively). The specific IgE to Df was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than that to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus (Dp), suggesting a cross reaction between the Df antigen and the Toxocara antigen. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who have elevated serum total IgE and have eosinophilia without allergic disease might have toxocariasis. The lower frequency of asthma or rhinitis and a tendency for higher specific IgE to Df than that to Dp could be useful findings for the diagnosis of toxocariasis in patients with eosinophilia.
Asthma ; Cross Reactions ; Dermatophagoides farinae ; Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus ; Eating ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosinophilia ; Eosinophils ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E ; Immunoglobulin G ; Liver ; Lung ; Meat ; Pyroglyphidae ; Rhinitis ; Toxocara ; Toxocara canis ; Toxocariasis