Acute pancreatitis caused by tapeworm in the biliary tract.
Taeniasis is a helminthic infection endemic in southeast Asia, including Taiwan. Recent studies suggest that Asian Taenia is a new subspecies of Taenia saginata and has been renamed as Taenia saginata asiatica. It is usually asymptomatic or associated with only mild gastrointestinal symptoms. We report the case of a 52-year-old woman with acute epigastric pain and vomiting. Her levels of amylase and lipase were significantly elevated on admission. Gastrointestinal endoscopy showed proglottids of a tapeworm in the papilla of the duodenum. The epigastric pain subsided and the amylase and lipase levels decreased after removal of the tapeworm by endoscopy and anthelminthic treatment. Although parasites are not an uncommon cause of pancreatitis, especially in disease-endemic areas, it is rare for Taenia to cause acute pancreatitis.
Liu
Yu-Min
YM
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, and Department of Pathology, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. taican@yahoo.com
Bair
Ming-Jong
MJ
Chang
Wen-Hsiung
WH
Lin
Shee-Chan
SC
Chan
Yu-Jan
YJ
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology; D000208:Acute Disease; D000681:Amylases / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001659:Biliary Tract / Q000469:parasitology*; D001660:Biliary Tract Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008049:Lipase / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000209:etiology*; D013621:Taenia / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013622:Taeniasis / Q000150:complications* / Q000469:parasitology
D008049:Lipase; D000681:Amylases