Hepatic visceral larva migrans of Toxocara canis: CT and sonographic findings.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to describe the CT and sonographic findings of hepatic visceral larva migrans of Toxocara canis.


METHODS
Fifty-four patients (44 men, 10 women; age range, 30-80 years; mean age, 53 years) with serologically confirmed visceral larva migrans of Toxocara canis underwent evaluation of the liver with CT (n = 25), sonography (n = 48), or both. Two radiologists used consensus for retrospective evaluation of CT and sonographic findings. Correlation between the presence and severity of hepatic abnormalities on images and the degree of peripheral eosinophilia was assessed.


RESULTS
Seventeen (68%) of 25 patients who underwent CT had single or multiple ill-defined, oval or elongated, small, low-attenuating lesions in the liver. Eighteen (38%) of 48 patients who underwent sonography had single or multiple small, poorly defined, oval or elongated, hypoechoic scattered focal lesions in the liver. In the 19 patients who underwent both CT and sonography, the two techniques had no significant difference in rate of detection of hepatic lesions (p = 0.375, McNemar test). The lesion numbers on CT and sonography showed excellent linear correlation (r = 0.844, p = 0.001) by Pearson's correlation test. An independent samples t test showed that eosinophil count and percentage in the peripheral blood were significantly higher in patients with hepatic lesions on CT and sonography than in patients without lesions.


CONCLUSIONS
CT and sonographic findings of hepatic visceral larva migrans of T. canis are multiple, ill-defined, oval or elongated, small, nodular lesions scattered in the liver parenchyma. The presence of hepatic lesions on images was associated with higher peripheral eosinophil count and percentage.
Chang
Samuel
S
Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Ilwon-dong, Kangnam-ku, Seoul, South Korea 135-230.
Lim
Jae Hoon
JH
Choi
Dongil
D
Park
Cheol Keun
CK
Kwon
Nam-Hee
NH
Cho
Seung-Yull
SY
Choi
Dong-Chull
DC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007814:Larva; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017166:Toxocara canis / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014120:Toxocariasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography