Korean J Parasitol.
2006 Jun;44(2):151-156. 10.3347/kjp.2006.44.2.151.
A surgically confirmed case of breast sparganosis showing characteristic mammography and ultrasonography findings
- Affiliations
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- 1Department 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
- 2Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-744, Korea.
- 3Department of Surgery, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul 110-744, Korea.
- KMID: 1720511
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2006.44.2.151
Abstract
- A case of breast sparganosis was confirmed by surgical excision of a worm (fragmented into 5 pieces) in a 59-year-old Korean woman suffering from a palpable mass in the left breast. Mammography and ultrasonography characteristically revealed the presence of several well-defined, isodense and hypoechoic tubular masses, in the upper quadrant of the left breast, each mass consisting of a continuous cord- or worm-like structure. During surgery, a long segment of an actively moving sparganum of Spirometra sp. and 4 small fragments of the same worm, giving a total length of 20.3 cm, were extracted from the upper outer quadrant of the left breast and the axillary region. The infection source remains unclear, because the patient denied ingesting any snake or frog meat or drinking untreated water.
