Korean J Parasitol.  2012 Dec;50(4):333-337.

An Indigenous Case of Intestinal Capillariasis with Protein-Losing Enteropathy in Korea

• Jung WT
• Kim HJ
• Min HJ
• Ha CY
• Kim HJ
• Ko GH
• Na BK
• Sohn WM

Abstract

We encountered an indigenous case of intestinal capillariasis with protein-losing enteropathy in the Republic of Korea. A 37-year-old man, residing in Sacheon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do, admitted to the Gyeongsang National University Hospital (GNUH) due to long-lasting diarrhea, abdominal pain, anasarca, and weight loss. He recalled that he frequently ate raw fish, especially the common blackish goby (Acanthogobius flavimanus) and has never been abroad. Under the suspicion of protein-losing enteropathy, he received various kinds of medical examinations, and was diagnosed as intestinal capillariasis based on characteristic sectional findings of nematode worms in the biopsied small intestine. Adults, juvenile worms, and eggs were also detected in the diarrheic stools collected before and after medication. The clinical symptoms became much better after treatment with albendazole 400 mg daily for 3 days, and all findings were in normal range in laboratory examinations performed after 1 month. The present study is the 6th Korean case of intestinal capillariasis and the 3rd indigenous one in the Republic of Korea.

Keyword

Capillaria philippinensis; intestinal capillariasis; indigenous case; protein-losing enteropathy

MeSH Terms

Adult
Albendazole/administration & dosage
Animals
Anthelmintics/administration & dosage
Biopsy
Capillaria/cytology/drug effects/*isolation & purification
Diarrhea
Enoplida Infections/drug therapy/parasitology/*pathology
Feces/parasitology
Female
Helminthiasis/drug therapy/parasitology/*pathology
Humans
Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic/drug therapy/parasitology/*pathology
Intestines/parasitology/pathology
Male
Protein-Losing Enteropathies/drug therapy/parasitology/*pathology
Republic of Korea
Treatment Outcome
Albendazole
Anthelmintics