Intestinal Schistosomiasis Following Orthotopic Liver Transplantation: A Case Report

Parasitic Infections in Solid Organ Transplant Recipients

“…Recurrence of schistosomiasis after liver transplant is rare. Several cases of schistosomiasis after liver transplant have been reported, possibly resulting from reactivation of previous infection as a consequence of immunosuppressive therapy (119,120).…”

“…While schistosomes can be transmitted by organ transplant, adult schistosomes do not replicate within the host (because they need snails for the intermediate host) so only transmission of nonreplicating adult worms occurs. There are several case‐reports describing the successful use of Schistosoma ‐infected donors in the solid organ transplantation (118–123). It is not clear whether transplant recipients with donor‐derived infections are at risk for Katayama fever, a systemic hypersensitivity reaction against the migrating parasites, with sudden onset of fever, chills, myalgias, arthralgias, dry cough, diarrhea and headache, often resembling serum sickness; lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly may be found, with eosinophilia and patchy pulmonary infiltrates.…”

“…Oxamniquine (for S. mansoni ) may be available outside the United States. Case reports of several transplant patients who were treated with one dose of praziquantel at 40 mg/kg with good outcomes have been published (119,120). Altered efficacy or toxicity with treatment has not been well‐studied or documented in transplant recipients.…”

Incidental Schistosomiasis in Transplant Liver: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

“…Cirrhosis is rare in Schistosoma infection alone, but when the patient is coinfected with hepatitis B or C virus, progression to cirrhosis is brisk--this is common in endemic regions such as Egypt and the Middle East [4][5][6][7].…”

Incidental hepatic schistosomiasis in a liver transplant recipient

“…The risk of cirrhosis progression is observed more often in patients co‐infected with HCV (8, 9), and liver failure from Schistosoma ‐HCV coinfection is a leading indication for liver transplantation in Egypt and Saudi Arabia (10–12). The case presented in this report fits more with the most common clinical presentation of hepatic schistosomiasis, wherein the degree of liver involvement is very limited.…”