A case of acute laryngitis caused by Clinostomum complanatum with a complaint of throat irritation

Abstract

In Japan, parasitic laryngo-pharyngitis is not a common disease. Recently we treated a case of acute laryngitis caused by a small trematode, Clinostomum complanatum. The patient was a 54 year-old female who complained of a sore throat and an abnormal sensation in her throat which felt like a foreign body, after eating raw roach fish. The parasite was motile and was attached to the right arytenoid mucosa. After removal of the parasite under direct laryngoscope, the symptoms disappeared immediately.