Sparganosis is a helminthic infection caused by the migrating larvae of the cestode genus Spirometra. Human infection is most commonly encountered in regions of the Far East where it has been associated with dietary consumption and medicinal usage of raw snake and frog tissue preparations or the drinking of contaminated water. Approximately 63 cases of sparganosis have been reported in the United States and reports of cutaneous sparganosis are very rare within the world literature. A case of cutaneous sparganosis involving the lateral abdominal region of a 54‐year‐old Filipino American women is discussed. Clinically the lesion presented as a cutaneous nodule. Skin punch biopsy revealed a sparganum possessing an undulating body wall with outermost microvillus layer overlying a thick tegument. Two thin smooth muscle layers and deeper subtegumental cells resided subjacent to the tegument. Calcareous corpuscles and intermixed mesenchymal tissues occupied the central regions of the larval worm. The inflammation consisted of a dense perivascular lymphohistiocytic infiltrate with scattered eosinophils and surrounding dermal fibrosis. Cutaneous sparganosis is rarely encountered in dermatology and dermatopathology practice, hence recognition of the clinical, histomorphological and patient history characteristics associated with this helminthic infection will facilitate in diagnosing this entity.
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