CLINICAL STUDY OF ASCARIASIS

Abstract

Ascariasis tends to be treated lightly in clinical practice, because it is assumed to be rare in Japan. However recent progress in techniques of gastrointestinal examinations made us possible to detect some cases. The worm shadow could be revealed by X-ray examination, despite negative in the stool. Clinical study mainly on X-ray findings of 9 ascariasis was made and is reported here. The worms were found in the biliary tract in 4 cases (biliary cases), and in the intestinal tract in 5 cases (intestinal cases). The youngest patient with ascaris was 30 years old and the oldest was 74 years old. They visited the hospital with the complaints of abdominal pain, nausea and others. Diagnosis was very difficult because of no past or present evidence of worms or eggs in the vomit or stool, except one case. Biliary cases were diagnosed by ERCP or PTC, and one of them showed mild icterus, which is the characteristic of this disease. Intestinal cases were diagnosed by barium X-ray examination. Ascariasis seems to be increasing with not only the development of the examination techniques but also with the change of the social situation, in which so-called "natural foods" became more popular. Therefore, we must differentiate carefully ascariasis from other diseases in the cases with the complaints concerning the digestive system.