title: Intramuscular sparganosis in the gastrocnemius muscle: a case report.
abstract: Sparganosis is a parasitic infection caused by the plerocercoid tapeworm larva of the genus Spirometra. Although the destination of the larva is often a tissue or muscle in the chest, abdominal wall, extremities, eyes, brain, urinary tract, spinal canal, and scrotum, intramuscular sparganosis is uncommon and therefore is difficult to distinguish from a soft tissue tumor. We report a case of intramuscular sparganosis involving the gastrocnemius muscle in an elderly patient who was diagnosed using ultrasonography and MRI and treated by surgical excision. At approximately 1 cm near the schwannoma at the right distal sciatic nerve, several spargana worms were detected and removed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 602-739, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeung Il
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 602-739, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Wan
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 602-739, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 602-739, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Yong
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University Hospital, Busan 602-739, Korea.
authors.forename: In Sook
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 626-870, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Un
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Yangsan 626-870, Korea. ; Immunoregulatory Therapeutics Group in Brain Busan 21 Project, Pusan National University, Yangsan 626-870, Korea.
authors.forename: Hak Sun
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013031:Sparganosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D013146:Spirometra / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014463:Ultrasonography
keywords: Spirometra sp.; gastrocnemius muscle; intramuscular; schwannoma; sparganosis