Detection of two parasitic tapeworms in a patient with Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense infection by capsule endoscopy

Abstract

A 76-year-old man presented to our hospital because he had noticed a long, white, string-like discharge in his feces. He had a history of eating raw fish. Tapeworm infection was suspected. We performed capsule endoscopy to investigate whether there were parasitic tapeworms. Capsule endoscopy revealed a scolex in the jejunum at 2 hours and 4 minutes, and another scolex at 2 hours and 37 minutes. He was treated with praziquantel (1200 mg) followed by a cathartic (magnesium citrate) . The two tapeworms were successfully expelled. Their lengths were 404 centimeters and 135 centimeters, respectively. After analysis of the expelled tapeworms, we diagnosed the patient with Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense infection.
In our case, capsule endoscopy was useful for evaluation of the number of parasitic tapeworms.