An Imported Case of Echinococcosis of the Liver in a Korean Who Traveled to Western and Central Europe

Abstract

Echinococcus granulosus, an intestinal tapeworm of dogs and other canids, infects humans in its larval stage and causes human echinococcosis or hydatid disease. In the Republic of Korea, 31 parasite-proven human echinococcosis cases have been reported, most of which were imported from the Middle East. We recently examined a 61-year-old Korean man who had a large cystic mass in his liver. ELISA was negative for tissue parasitic infections, including echinococcosis, cysticercosis, paragonimiasis, and sparganosis. The patient underwent surgery to remove the cyst, and the resected cyst was processed histopathologically for microscopic examinations. In sectioned cyst tissue, necrotizing protoscolices with disintegrated hooklets of E. granulosus were found. In some areas, only freed, fragmented hooklets were detected. The patient had traveled to western and central Europe in 1996, and had no other history of overseas travel. We report our patient as a hepatic echinococcosis case which was probably imported from Europe.

Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology of Hepatic Hydatid Cyst: A Case Study

“…The germinal layer is 10 to 25 µm in thickness and contains nuclei. In Korea, hydatid cysts are uncommon and are typically imported by travelers or workers from endemic areas 2-4. In the present case, the patient was a foreign worker who had lived the first 26 years of his life in an endemic area.…”

“…Due to increasing migration and traveling, this disease now has a worldwide distribution. In Korea, hydatid cysts have rarely been reported in travelers or workers from endemic areas 2-4. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of hydatid cysts has been described 5-8.…”

An Imported Case of Cystic Echinococcosis in the Liver

“…Since Uzbekistan is an endemic area of CE [10], this patient should be an imported case of CE in Korea. Already 6 cases have been reported to have been imported from Uzbekistan in Korea [5]. …”

“…Though echinococcosis is not endemic in Korea, 33 cases of CE and 1 case of AE have been reported [5,6]. We describe our clinical experience of a case of CE in the liver herein.…”

Presumptive case of sparganosis manifesting as a hepatic mass: A case report and literature review

“…Because he had a history of travel to the middle East for two years, which is a crucial diagnostic clue for echinococcosis[5], and serpiginous linear structures could also be observed in echinococcal cysts[6], an additional ELISA test was performed to differentiate between sparganosis and echinococcosis four years after surgery. At this time, the antibody titers for Sparganum and Echinococcus antigen were both below the cutoff values.…”