Hepatic granuloma in a man from North America caused by a nymph of Linguatula serrata.
A calcified nodule on the liver of a 62-year-old man from North Carolina, USA, contained a degenerated nymph of Linguatula serrata. The nodule was incidentally discovered at laparotomy for malignant lymphoma and cholelithiasis. The cuticle was all that remained of the parasite, but sclerotized openings and large spines on the cuticle proved the parasite was L. serrata, a pentastomid arthropod. Anatomic location and size of the parasite indicated that it was consistent with the nymphal stage of L. serrata. This is the fifth confirmed infection of humans from North America by a pentastomid parasite.
Baird
J K
JK
Division of Geographic Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC.
Kassebaum
L J
LJ
Ludwig
G K
GK
D000818:Animals; D001181:Arthropods / Q000469:parasitology*; D006099:Granuloma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008109:Liver Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009656:North America; D009758:Nymph; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000209:etiology*