Myocarditis Associated with Visceral Larva Migrans due to Toxocara Canis

Abstract

A 26-year-old man who was diagnosed with myocarditis presented eosinopilia after having eaten raw meat several times before the admission. Since the antibody titer against Toxocara canis was high, we diagnosed that he had visceral larva migrans due to Toxocara canis associated with myocarditis and eosinophilia. He was then treated with oral albendazole and prednisolone for 4 weeks and eosinophil count and hepatic enzymes were normalized along with the decrease in the antibody titer. We consider that his myocarditis was probably caused by direct larval migration and/or by hypersensitivity reaction, for which combined therapy with albendazole and prednisolone was effective.
(Internal Medicine 41: 706-708, 2002)