Korean J Parasitol.
2010 Dec;48(4):309-312. 10.3347/kjp.2010.48.4.309.
A Case of Sparganosis in the Leg
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan 330-714, Korea. m3artist@hanmail.net
- 2Department of Pathology, Dankook University College of Medicine, Cheonan 330-714, Korea.
- KMID: 1104697
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2010.48.4.309
Abstract
- The life-span of the sparganum in humans is not exactly known, but it may survive longer than 5 years in some patients. We experienced a case infected with a sparganum that is presumed to have lived for 20 years in a patient's leg. The patient was a 60-year-old woman, and she was admitted to a hospital due to ankle pain that was aggravated on dorsiflexion. She had noticed a mass on her knee some 20 years ago, but she received no medical management for it. The mass moved into the ankle joint 3 months before the current admission, and then the aforementioned symptoms appeared. A living sparganum was recovered by surgery, and the calcified tract near the knee was proved to be the pathway along which the larva had passed.
