Rare presentation of haemobilia and Loeffler’s pneumonia in a child by ascaris lumbricoides

Abstract

Ascariasis is a soil-sourced, second most common parasitic infection worldwide. Because of its wandering nature, it migrates from the intestine to other organs of the body like the lungs and biliary system. This results in complications such as biliary colic, acute cholecystitis, pyogenic cholangitis, liver abscesses, pancreatitis and loeffler’s pneumonia. We report a unique case of an 8-year-old boy who presented with upper gastrointestinal bleed and chest infection. He was diagnosed as haemobilia and loeffler’s pneumonia caused by ascaris lumbricoides.

Pneumoascariasis: Ascaris Worm Infestation in the Lungs

“…Some of them might be found to worsen the respiratory symptom such as hemobilia, or the bleeding from the biliary tract, hematemesis, the vomit that could mix up with blood, hemoptysis, coughing with blood which is possible to lead into severe respiratory distress, general rashes similar to urticaria ones, due to Ascaris larvae entrance in the blood, and causes hypersensitivity reaction to extremely allergenic components. 11,30,31 To detect ascariasis infestation outside the intestine is difficult. For pneumoascariasis, it is an important extraintestinal symptom.…”

Síndrome de Loeffler, ¿más frecuente de lo que pensamos?: un caso asociado a Ascaris lumbricoides y Strongyloides stercolaris

“…Entre los helmintos, Ascaris lumbricoides es el parásito que con mayor frecuencia se ha asociado a Síndrome de Loeffler [2,3], seguramente secundario a que es uno de los parásitos con mayor incidencia a nivel mundial. Asimis mo, se han descrito casos por uncinarias como Necator americanus y Ancylostoma duodenale [4,5], Strongiloides stercolaris, larva migrans visceral y filarias.…”