• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.179-184
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• 2019

Sparganosis is a parasitic infestation caused by sparganum, a plerocercoid tapeworm larva of the genus Spirometra. Since the first case of human sparganosis reported in 1908, sparganosis has been a global disease, and is common in China, Japan, and Southeast Asian countries. Consumption of raw snakes, frogs, fish, or drinking contaminated beverages are sources of human infections. Human sparganosis usually manifests in subcutaneous fat in areas such as the abdomen, genitourinary tract, and limbs. Breast sparganosis cases are rare, representing less than 2% of total cases of human infections. Complete surgical extraction of the sparganum is the treatment of choice. Because of the rarity of the disease, clinical suspicion is vital to reach the diagnosis of breast sparganosis. Here we report 2 rare cases of breast sparganosis presenting with a painless breast lump, both treated with surgical excision and sparganum extraction.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.421-424
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• 2017

Sparganosis is a parasitic infection caused by the sparganum, the plercercoid of the genus Spirometra. The preoperative diagnosis of breast sparganosis is difficult in most cases because it is a rare parasitic infection less than 2% of all cases. We report a 62-year-old woman case of breast sparganosis that were confirmed by surgical removal of worms from the right breast. The radiologic images of the patient also revealed characteristic features of breast sparganosis. The patient described the migrating palpable breast mass, which strongly suggested the possibility of breast sparganosis. The treatment of choice and confirmative diagnosis for sparganosis are complete surgical extraction of the sparganum irrespective of infected site. Inspection of the mass site with detailed medical history and radiological examinations are important for preoperative diagnosis of sparganosis patients.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.5508-5512
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• 2015

Objective.: Sparganosis locations in humans are usually presented with a subcutaneous tissue of abdominal wall, chest, abdominal vicera and brain, but are rarely found in the breast. Methods. A case of sparganosis was confirmed by surgical excision of two parasites in a 76-year-old female patient present to a palpable mass in the right breast (presumed to have been sparganosis approximately 3 years ago). She had no history to direct ingestion of snakes or frogs, but had the history of drinking contaminated water. Mammography, ultrasonography, MRI, and FDG PET/CT imaging findings for patient were characteristic of sparganosis due to suspicion of breast cancer. Conclusions: The first route of infection in humans is drinking contaminated water. The second route is the ingestion of raw or partially cooked snakes or frogs. The third route is infected wound snake, frog muscle that attach to the case. However, only a few cases of drinking contaminated water have been reported in the country. Ultrasonography, MRI is known to be helpful for diagnosis of breast sparganosis. However, Mammography, ultrasonography, MRI, and FDG PET/CT for breast sparganosis is not reported present in the country. Reported the case and reviewed the related literature briefly.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.187-189
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• 2002

A 29-year-old Korean woman visited the Department of Surgery in MizMedi Hospital with a palpable itching mass on the right breast that had existed for the past 7 months. She had no history to eat either frogs or snakes, but had the history of drinking impure water. Sonography revealed a serpiginous hypoechoic tubular structure associated with partial fat necrosis in breast parenchymal layer and subcutaneous fat layer. It also revealed oval cystic lesions. At operation, an ivory white opaque ribbon-like worm that measured 16.5 cm in length and 0.5 cm in width was extracted. Anti-sparganum specific serum IgG level in the patient's serum (absorbance ＝ 0.71), measured by ELISA, was found to be significantly higher than those of normal controls (cut off point ＝ 0.21) . Sonography and ELISA appear to be helpful to diagnose sparganosis. Breast sparganosis is rarely found throughout the world.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1240-1244
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• 1992

Human sparganosis caused by Sparganum mansoni, the larval plerocercoid worm of the genus Spirometra, is not uncommon in Korea and is mostly found in subcutaneous or adipose tissue of the abdominal, thoracic wall and inguinal region, but is rarely found in the orbital cavity, brain and breast. It, at present, is a surgical disease because its diagnosis depends almost on the demonstration of the larva[e] from lesion or finding the worm section in surgical pathology specimens. We experienced a case of human sparganosis from a 48 years old woman who had a history of eating a raw frog. We report the case and review the related literatures.

• Journal of Korean Medical Science
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• v.33 no.44
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• pp.273.1-273.15
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• 2018

Background: Sparganosis is a larval cestodiasis caused by the plerocercoid of Spirometra spp. Since the first description of human sparganosis in 1924, several hundred cases have been reported in Korea. However, systematic approaches for literature surveys of Korean sparganosis have seldom appeared. Methods: We searched publicly available databases such as PubMed, Research Information Sharing Service, and Korea Medical Citation Index with relevant Medical Subject Headings. Results: At least 438 Korean sparganosis cases have been described from 1924 to 2015. Preoperative diagnosis has been significantly increased since the 1980s due to popularization of serological and imaging diagnostics. Cases were largely detected from fifth decades in general, but cerebral sparganosis was detected in relatively young age groups (third and fourth decades). Sparganosis was prevalent in men (75.9%). Consumption of frog/snake and drinking unfiltered water were found in 63.4% and 16.9% of patients, respectively. Most frequently affected sites were subcutaneous tissues (49.9%), followed by the central nervous system (36.2%). Involvements of visceral organs (7.6%), ocular regions (3.6%), and muscles (2.7%) were noticed. In women, breast sparganosis constituted a large proportion (34.2%). Sparganosis associated with immunocompromised patients has recently been reported. Conclusion: Sparganosis has been continuously reported in Korea during the past 90 years, although its incidence has decreased during the last 20 years. The disease is mostly characterized by subcutaneous nodule, but infection of the worm in vital organs often results in serious illness. Continuous awareness is warranted to monitor sparganosis occurrence and associated clinical consequences.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.44 no.2 s.138
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• pp.151-156
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• 2006

A case of breast sparganosis was confirmed by surgical excision of a worm (fragmented into 5 pieces) in a 59-year-old Korean woman suffering from a palpable mass in the left breast. Mammography and ultrasonography characteristically revealed the presence of several well-defined, isodense and hypoechoic tubular masses, in the upper quadrant of the left breast, each mass consisting of a continuous cord- or worm-like structure. During surgery, a long segment of an actively moving sparganum of Spirometra sp. and 4 small fragments of the same worm, giving a total length of 20.3 cm, were extracted from the upper outer quadrant of the left breast and the axillary region. The infection source remains unclear, because the patient denied ingesting any snake or frog meat or drinking untreated water.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.5
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• pp.1210-1215
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• 2020

Sparganosis is an uncommon human parasitic infection caused by plerocercoid cysts of the genus Spirometra. Sparganosis of the neck is a rare condition, thus making it difficult to diagnose. It is often initially misdiagnosed as a lymphadenopathy or a soft tissue tumor. Herein, we describe a rare case of apparent sparganosis presenting as a palpable mass in the left neck of a 53-year-old female patient. Imaging studies played a key role in the diagnosis. In this case report, we emphasize that sparganosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a palpable superficial mass. We also stress the importance of meticulous radiological review in the context of appropriate clinical suspicion.