title: Childhood pentastomiasis: a report of three cases with the following-up data.
abstract: Pentastomiasis, a zoonotic parasitic disease, has been reported commonly in Africa and Asia. It is caused by pentastomes, which are annulated but unsegmented blood-sucking endoparasites. Fewer than 20 cases have been reported during the past two decades in China, and cases in children have been especially rare. Herein, we report three cases of pediatric patients with severe systemic symptoms, focusing on the clinical features, diagnosis, and therapy of this disease. The patients were two boys and one girl aged 3 to 13years. They all had a history of snake or worm ingested from snake and initial symptoms of fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. Eosinophilia, anemia and elevated serum IgE levels were noted. Moreover, the large numbers of nodules, or even calcification, in the liver and/or lungs were noted by ultrasound, CT or MRI scans. These pentastomes were identified as Armillifer moniliformis, Porocephalus taiwana and Armillifer agkistrodontis. Praziquantel and mebendazole deworming treatments were adopted for the patients. Hence, pentastomiasis should be considered in the differential diagnosis for patients with multiple organ or system lesions, especially abdominal signs, that develop after the ingestion of snakes. Ultrasound, CT and MRI scans and laparoscopic approaches might be helpful for the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, The Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Guo-Hong
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: She-Sheng
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Ke-Wen
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D000871:Anthelmintics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007814:Larva; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008463:Mebendazole / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology*; D057078:Pentastomida / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D011223:Praziquantel / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015047:Zoonoses
chemical_list: D000871:Anthelmintics; D011223:Praziquantel; D008463:Mebendazole