Six cases of hepatic fascioliasis

• Autor(a) principal: Galretas, Susana
• Data de Publicação: 2003
• Outros Autores: Laïz, Marta, Simão, Adélia, Carvalho, Armando, Rodrigues, Adriano, Sá, Anabela, Santos, Arsénio, Santos, Rui, da Silva, J. A. P., Reis, Conceição, Almiro, Eurico, Porto, Armando
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://revista.spmi.pt/index.php/rpmi/article/view/1828
• topic: fasciolíase hepática; diagnóstico; triclabendazol; hepatic fascioliasis; diagnosis; triclabendazole

Fascioliasis is an infectious disease, caused by the fluke Fasciola hepatica, that mainly parasitises herbivorous animals. Man is an accidental host. Infection results from eating raw aquatic vegetables with encysted metacercariae.The authors report 6 cases of human hepatic fascioliasis, admitted in the University of Coimbra hospital, Medicine III Service, in the last 15 years. Of the six cases, 4 were males and 2 females, with a mean age of 57 years. The most frequent symptom was abdominal pain and the most frequent sign was jaundice. Complaints lasted, on average, 1.6 months. Four patients confirmed recent ingestion of raw watercress. All had eosinophilia and altered liver function tests. Abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography scan suggested neoplasia in 3 patients, which made the diagnosis more difficult. The diagnosis was made on a positive parasitological examination of stool specimens. All patients had chronic fascioliasis. Five were treated with praziquantel; in 4 it was ineffective and they had to be re-treated, 2 with bithionol and 2 with dihydroemetine. The most recently diagnosed patient was treated with a single dose of triclabendazole.