title: An unusual cause of pancreatitis in a 46-year-old returning traveller.
abstract: A 46-year-old previously fit and well man, travelled to Jhelum, Pakistan for 6 weeks in early 2015. Four weeks after returning to the UK, he developed sudden onset epigastric pain, vomiting and fever. C reactive protein was 232 mg/L and amylase was 2061 U/L. He was treated conservatively as pancreatitis, with peripancreatic streaking and left colic gutter fluid on a CT abdominal scan. He was discharged and later attended the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, after coughing up an 8 cm male ascaris worm. He was treated for acute ascariasis infection, complicated by resolved mild-moderate pancreatitis, a common complication in the developing world but rarely seen among travellers.
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London, UK.
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pimenta
authors.affiliation: Hospital for Tropical Disease, UCLH, London, UK.
authors.forename: Naghum
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dawood
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000681:Amylases / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D001196:Ascariasis / Q000150:complications*; D001200:Ascaris; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D003906:Developing Countries; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010154:Pakistan; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014195:Travel
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D000681:Amylases