A rare case of alveolar echinococcosis in a 14-year-old child

Abstract

28 SummaryWe report the case of a 14-year-old girl who suffered from headache, fatigue, caught and a fever with body temperature up to 40 0 C for a week. The patient had abdominal enlargement and clinical examination showed the hepatomegaly +5 cm. In ELISA assays employing Em2+ antigen, high titres of specific IgG antibodies to Echinococcus multilocularis somatic antigens were found in the serum. Western blot analysis also indicated on presence of alveolar echinococcosis (AE). CT examination showed expansive foci in the right liver lobe and histological examinations of the biopsy after PAS staining confirmed the presence of alveolar echinococcosis. After 320 days of chemotherapy with albendazole, CT revealed progression of parasitic foci and new abscess lesions inside parasitic cysts were detected, with some parts being necrotic. The surgical removing of foci was performed as following -the laparotomic revision, the removal of the right liver lobe with dilatation, reconstruction of v. cavae cum prothesis PTFE in length 12 cm. Three months after the operation, the rest of the patient's left liver lobe had grownup and compensated at least a part of the removed liver.

Fox tapeworm (Echinococcus multilocularis) in Slovakia — summarizing the long-term monitoring

“…The risk of human infection is great also in view of fact that infected animals were found also in prime tourist centres. The importance of identifying risk areas is underlined by the discovery that out of 16 human alveolar echinococcosis cases, 14 diagnosed patients live in endemic localities of northern Slovakia (Table 1) (Kinčeková et al, 2001(Kinčeková et al, , 2002(Kinčeková et al, , 2005(Kinčeková et al, , 2008a(Kinčeková et al, , 2008bSurveillance of helminthozoonoses 2000Surveillance of helminthozoonoses -2010. The fluctuation in prevalence during years under study notes that climate factors are essential for distribution and spread of alveolar echinococcosis.…”

Immunotherapy Can Enhance Anthelmintic Efficacy in Alveolar Echinococcosis

“…Experiments were carried out on male BALB/c mice (n=165) weighing 20-25 g. Mice were randomly divided into five groups as follows: Group 5 -E. multilocularis infected (as Group 2) and treated with combination of TF and ABZ as above Samples of blood, spleen, and peritoneal macrophages were obtained at the following weeks: 0 (prior infection), 2,4,6,8,10,12,14,18,22, and 26 p.i. from all groups (3 mice per experimental day).…”

“…is long term and relatively little effective. A surgical extirpation of cysts is not always successful owing to their ability to form metastatic foci in secondarily infected organs [3,4]. The available treatment has only parasitostatic effect and is therefore performed over many years, often through the patient's life [5].…”

Immune response of mice with alveolar echinococcosis to therapy with transfer factor, alone and in combination with albendazole

“…The disease is characterised by an infiltrative, tumour-like growth of the E. multilocularis larval cysts, affecting the liver of intermediate hosts such small mammals or man (Zhang and McManus 2006). A surgical extirpation of cysts is not always successful owing to their ability to form metastatic foci in secondarily infected organs (Kinčeková et al 2008). The chemotherapy of alveolar echinococcosis with available anthelmintics (benzimidazoles) has only the parasitostatic effect.…”