Is there a connection between paediatric acute idiopathic scrotal oedema and intestinal worm infestation?
OBJECTIVE
Based on our experience with acute idiopathic scrotal oedema (AISO) and observations of the incidence of intestinal worm infestation (IWI), we decided to test the hypothesis that IWI occurs more frequently among children with AISO than it does in the general population.


METHODS
A retrospective questionnaire-based study was conducted comparing the frequency of IWI between children who had AISO and a matched control group who had inguinal hernia surgery in our Pediatric Surgery Department during 2003-2009. This second group was chosen to represent the incidence of IWI in the paediatric community in our region. Records of all patients admitted to the Department of Pediatric Surgery for AISO during 2003-2009 were reviewed.


RESULTS
Seventeen out of thirty-eight (44.7%) AISO patients had a history of IWI compared with 5/38 (13.1%) in the control group (P= 0.0047).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data clearly show that AISO in children is frequently associated with a history of IWI. Although well-documented, prospective studies are needed to establish these findings, we feel that this report provides a reasonable clue to a possible aetiology of AISO.
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Meir Medical Center, Kfar Saba Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel. erezi@clalit.org.il
Ilan
I
Erez
Eyal
E
Zifman
Irena
I
Nersesjanz
Ludwig
L
Lazar
Genady
G
Bucklan
Michael
M
Gutermacher
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004487:Edema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012611:Scrotum / Q000473:pathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires