Korean J Parasitol.  2020 Oct;58(5):571-576. 10.3347/kjp.2020.58.5.571.

An Unusual Case of Extra-Enteric Blastocystosis in the Uterine Cervix

• Escutia-Guzman Y
• Martinez-Flores WA
• Martinez-Ocaña J
• Martinez-Pimentel R
• Benitez-Ramirez M
• Martinez-Hernandez F
• Arroyo-Escalante S
• Romero-Valdovinos M
• Orozco-Mosqueda GE
• Maravilla P

• KMID: 2508163
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2020.58.5.571

Abstract

Extra-enteric infections by Blastocystis spp. have rarely been documented. Here, we report a case of extra-enteric blastocystosis in a patient with minimal cervicitis symptoms. A 47-year-old Hispanic female patient was attended in a primary health centre in Michoacan state, Mexico, for her routine gynaecological medical examination. As only symptom, she referred to a slight vaginal itching. The presence of several vacuolar-stages of Blastocystis spp. were identified by Papanicolaou staining; molecular identification was attempted by culture-PCR sequencing of a region of 18S gene from cervical and faecal samples obtained 2 months after cytological examination, even when patient declared that she tried self-medicating with vaginal ovules. Blastocystis ST1 was identified only in the faecal sample. The presence of Blastocystis spp. in the cervix of a patient with scarce symptomatology, demonstrates the extraordinary flexibility of this microorganism to adapt to new environments and niches.

Keyword

spp.; subtypes; Papanicolaou stain; cervix; extra-enteric blastocystosis