Korean J Parasitol.
2010 Jun;48(2):161-165. 10.3347/kjp.2010.48.2.161.
An Imported Case of Echinococcosis of the Liver in a Korean Who Traveled to Western and Central Europe
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, Korea.
- 2Department of Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, Korea.
- 3Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, Korea.
- 4Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul 110-799, Korea. cjy@snu.ac.kr
- KMID: 1067356
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2010.48.2.161
Abstract
- Echinococcus granulosus, an intestinal tapeworm of dogs and other canids, infects humans in its larval stage and causes human echinococcosis or hydatid disease. In the Republic of Korea, 31 parasite-proven human echinococcosis cases have been reported, most of which were imported from the Middle East. We recently examined a 61-year-old Korean man who had a large cystic mass in his liver. ELISA was negative for tissue parasitic infections, including echinococcosis, cysticercosis, paragonimiasis, and sparganosis. The patient underwent surgery to remove the cyst, and the resected cyst was processed histopathologically for microscopic examinations. In sectioned cyst tissue, necrotizing protoscolices with disintegrated hooklets of E. granulosus were found. In some areas, only freed, fragmented hooklets were detected. The patient had traveled to western and central Europe in 1996, and had no other history of overseas travel. We report our patient as a hepatic echinococcosis case which was probably imported from Europe.
