J Korean Surg Soc.
2007 Jan;72(1):85-88.
Sparganosis within the Thigh
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Surgery, Woo-Lee Hospital, Korea. drleehs@kornet.net
- 2Department of Parasitology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract
- Sparganosis is an infection that is caused by sparganum, the migrating plerocercoid larva of Spirometra spp. Manson first reported this condition in 1882. In Korea, Uemura reported the first case in 1917 in the muscle facia of a Korean farmer during the amputation of his leg. Since then, more than 100 cases have been reported. However, the number of unreported cases of sparganosis would be considerable. Human sparganosis is widely distributed in Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Philippine, Malaysia, India, Australia, Africa, France, England and USA. Most human cases are from Southeast Asia including Japan and Korea. Sparganosis commonly involves the subcutaneous tissue, muscles, fascia with occasional migration into the brain. We report 3 cases of sparganosis, a 42 year old man, a 55 year old man and a 41 year old woman, who all presented with a tender mass in the right thigh.
