Journal of the Korean Association of Pediatric Surgeons  2004;10(1):35-38

Visceral Leishmaniasis in a Child.

Hyun Young KIM 1 ; Seung Eun JUNG ; Kwi Won PARK ; Woo Ki KIM

Affiliations

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Keywords

Visceral leishmaniasis; Non-endemic areas; Child

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

Korean

MeSH

Abstract

Visceral leishmaniasis is a life-threatening systemic infection caused by a protozoa of the genus leishmania and transmitted by sandfly. We report the first case of visceral leishmanaisis in Korea. The patient was a one-year-old girl admitted with the symptoms of fever, abdominal distension, pancytopenia, and purpura. She traveled to Argentina 5 months ago, and has had symptoms such as fever and pale appearance. Laboratory findings were: WBC, 12,680/mm3; Hg, 3.7g/dL; platelet, 100K; total bilirubin, 1.2mg/dL; AST/ALT, 48/10 U/L. CT scan and MRI showed hepato-splenomegaly. On laparotomy, excision of an accessory spleen and splenic hilar lymph nodes were performed. Many amastigotes were microscopically identified in histiocytes from the biopsy tissues. Sodium stibogluconate was administrated for 2 weeks, which did not relieve the symptoms. After administration of the additional Amphotericin B for 3 weeks, symptoms were improved.