Tuberc Respir Dis.  2009 Sep;67(3):229-233.

A Case of Pulmonary Sparganosis in a Patient with a History of Recurrent Sparganum Infections

• Oh YJ
• Kim MJ
• Cho JH
• Cha CW
• Kim DH
• Oh MJ
• Chin JY
• Choi SS
• Kwon KW

Abstract

Sparganosis is a zoonosis caused by the migrating larvae of cestode genus Spirometra. We report a rare form of sparganosis that invades the lung. A 44-year-old man presented with newly appeared pulmonary nodules that were found accidentally on regular medical checkup, and on sequential chest CT, which we checked at an interval of every 2 months, revealed that the pulmonary lesion had migrated. The patient had a medical history of having undergone surgical excisions for sparganosis in muscles and in subcutaneous tissues of the lower abdomen, perianus, thigh, right axilla, and scapula area, several times over 7 years. A right middle lobectomy was performed and the lesion was diagnosed as sparganosis based on the characteristic histological findings.

Keyword

Lung ; Sparganosis; Recurrence

MeSH Terms

Abdomen
Adult
Axilla
Cestoda
Humans
Larva
Lung
Muscles
Recurrence
Scapula
Sparganosis
Sparganum
Spirometra
Subcutaneous Tissue
Thigh
Thorax

Figure

• 

  Figure 1 Initial chest CT scan shows about 1 cm sized two lobulated consolidative lesions with peripheral ground glass opacity and halo on right middle lobe that is adjacent to mediastium (A, B). A follow-up chest CT scan reveals newly appeared elongated consolidations on a different site of right middle lobe with disappearance of previous lesions compared with initial scan, suggesting the lesions have a fleeting nature (C, D).

• 

  Figure 2 (A) An elongated necrotic material surrounded by palisading granulomatous reaction is noted (H&E stain, ×40). (B) A few lamellated calcospherules are found in the necrotic material (H&E stain, ×400).

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