title: Case of subcutaneous sparganosis: use of imaging in definitive preoperative diagnosis.
abstract: Herein, we report a rare case of subcutaneous sparganosis in a 60-year-old Japanese woman. She had a 2 cm x 2 cm elastic-hard, subcutaneous nodule, which was the larva of a tapeworm, and a surrounding granuloma in her internal thigh. It was thought that she became infected by drinking water contaminated with the worm. She was definitively diagnosed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). After excision of the lesion, the titer of ELISA showed clear decline; therefore, we could conclude that she had been completely freed from sparganosis. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound sonography of her subcutaneous nodule demonstrated the characteristic signs: a band-like structure in the MRI and a coiled linear hypoechoic body in a clear, oval mass in the ultrasound sonography.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Yamanashi, Yamanashi, Japan. fwkc8662@nifty.com
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarukawa
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawanabe
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yagasaki
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shimada
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D013031:Sparganosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D013032:Sparganum / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D040521:Subcutaneous Tissue / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D014463:Ultrasonography