Obstrucción duodenal por Strongyloides stercoralis, una complicación inusual / Duodenal obstruction by Strongyloides stercoralis, an unusual complication

Resumen La estrongiloidiasis es una enfermedad desatendida en Latinoamérica. Las manifestaciones gastrointestinales son inespecíficas y la obstrucción duodenal es una complicación infrecuente. Presentamos el caso clínico de un varón de 31 años, procedente de la selva central de Perú, que ingresó por una obstrucción intestinal alta, con úlceras y una estenosis duodenal evidenciadas en la endoscopia digestiva alta. El informe histopatológico reveló la presencia de larvas de Strongyloides stercoralis. La evolución clínica y endoscópica fueron favorables con el tratamiento con ivermectina. Existen poco más de 20 casos publicados de obstrucción duodenal por S. stercoralis. Adicionalmente, se confirmó una infección por HTLV-1, asociación descrita frecuente.

Strongyloidiasis is a neglected disease in Latin America. Gastrointestinal manifestations are nonspecific and duodenal obstruction is a rare complication. Here we present the case of a 31-year-old male from the central jungle of Peru, admitted due to a high intestinal obstruction, with duodenal ulcers and stenosis evidenced in the upper endoscopy. The histopathological report revealed presence of larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis. Clinical and endoscopic follow up were favorable with ivermectin treatment. There are near 20 reported cases of duodenal obstruction due to S. stercoralis. Additionally, infection by HTLV-1 was confirmed, being this a frequent association.

Transmisión oral de Trypanosoma cruzi: una nueva situación epidemiológica de la enfermedad de Chagas en Colombia y otros países suramericanos / Oral transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi : a new epidemiological scenario for Chagas´ disease in Colombia and other South American countries

Durante la última década se han reportado numerosos casos de infección por Trypanosoma cruzi por vía oral, debidos a la contaminación de alimentos con heces de triatominos silvestres o con secreciones de reservorios en áreas donde los vectores domiciliados han sido controlados o no hay antecedentes de domiciliación. Con base en criterios epidemiológicos, clínicos y socioeconómicos, la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Agricultura y la Alimentación (FAO) y la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) establecieron una clasificación de los parásitos transmitidos por contaminación de alimentos en diferentes regiones del mundo, en la cual T. cruzi ocupó el décimo lugar de importancia en un grupo de 24 parásitos. Los cambios ambientales, como la deforestación y el calentamiento global, han afectado los ecotopos y el comportamiento de los vectores y de los reservorios de T. cruzi , de manera que estos se han desplazado a nuevas zonas, generando una nueva forma de transmisión por contaminación de alimentos que requiere su evaluación en el país. La presente revisión aborda la transmisión oral de la enfermedad de Chagas con énfasis en los estudios orientados a identificar los factores de riesgo, las especies de triatominos involucrados, la fisiopatología de la infección oral y los genotipos del parásito que están implicados en esta forma de transmisión en Colombia y en otras regiones de América Latina, así como la necesidad de adoptar políticas para su control y vigilancia epidemiológica.

Many cases of infection caused by the oral transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi have been reported during the last decade. These have been due to the contamination of food by faeces from sylvatic triatomines or by leakage from reservoirs in areas where domiciliated vectors have been controlled or where there has been no prior background of domiciliation. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have used epidemiological, clinical and socioeconomic criteria for ranking parasites transmitted by the contamination of food in different areas of the world; T. cruzi was placed tenth in importance amongst a group of 24 parasites in such ranking. Environmental changes such as deforestation and global warming have affected ecotopes and the behaviour of T. cruzi vectors and reservoirs so that these have become displaced to new areas, thereby leading to such new transmission scenario caused by the contamination of food, which requires evaluation in Colombia. The current review deals with the oral transmission of Chagas´ disease, emphasising studies aimed at identifying the pertinent risk factors, the triatomine species involved, the physiopathology of oral infection, the parasite´s genotypes implicated in this type of transmission in Colombia and other Latin American regions, as well as the need for ongoing epidemiological surveillance and control policies.

Toxoplasmose gástrica em paciente infectado pelo vírus da imunodeficiência humana. Relato de caso / Gastric toxoplasmosis in patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus. Case report

A toxoplasmose é uma zoonose altamente disseminada. A maio­ria das infecções em imunocompetentes é assintomática. Porém, em pacientes imunodeprimidos, a infecção adquire um curso variável. Em pacientes com contagem de CD4 abaixo de 100 e que foram previamente expostos ao Toxoplasma gondii, pode haver reativação da doença em diversos tecidos. Envolvimento do trato gastrintestinal por Toxoplasma gondii é raramente relatado. Embora os sintomas gastrintestinais sejam comuns entre os pacientes com síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida, a maioria é causada por infecções entéricas que não o Toxoplasma gondii. O objetivo deste estudo foi relatar um caso raro de toxoplasmose gástrica. Paciente do gênero feminino, 38 anos, com diagnóstico recente de vírus da imunodeficiência humana, iniciou sintomas gástricos inespecíficos como: epigastralgia, náuseas, vômitos e perda ponderal. O diagnóstico definitivo foi fechado com o estudo anatomopatológico da lesão na mucosa gástrica. Foi instituído tratamento para a toxoplasmose com clindamicina, pirimetamina e ácido folínico (devido à mielotoxicidade), com melhora parcial dos sintomas. Embora raro, a toxoplasmose gástrica deve entrar no diagnóstico diferencial de dor epigástrica em pacientes portadores da síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida com contagem de CD4 baixa. Seu diagnóstico pre­suntivo pode ser dado pelo quadro clínico, mas o diagnóstico definitivo é obtido pela biópsia da lesão...

Toxoplasmosis is a highly disseminated zoonosis. Most infections are asymptomatic in immunocompetent patients. However, in immunocompromised patients, infection acquires a variable course. In patients with CD4 counts lower than 100 and who have been previously exposed to Toxoplasma gondii, there may be reactivation of the disease in various tissues. Involvement of the gastrointestinal tract by Toxoplasma gondii is rarely reported. Although gastrointestinal symptoms are common among patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, most are caused by enteric infections other than Toxoplasma gondii. The aim of this study was to report a rare case of gastric toxoplasmosis. A 38-year-­old female patient, recently diagnosed with immunodeficiency human virus, presented with nonspecific gastric symptoms such as epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting and weight loss. The definitive diagnosis was reached with anatomopathological examination of gastric mucosa damage. She was treated for toxoplasmosis with clindamycin, pyrimethamine and folinic acid (due to myelotoxicity), with partial improvement of symptoms. Although rare, gastric toxoplasmosis should enter the differential diagnosis of epigastric pain in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with low CD4 count. Its presumptive diagnosis can be made on a clinical basis, but the definitive diagnosis is reached with biopsy...

Relación entre el grado de contacto perro-propietario y la carga de helicobacterias en mucosa gástrica canina / Relationship between grade of contact dog-owner and the helicobacterias on gastric mucosa

Las helicobacterias son bacterias Gram negativas de forma curva o helicoidal ampliamente distribuidas en estómago de humanos y de diversos animales, ya sea como microbiota normal o causante de patologías gastrointestinales. El objetivo del trabajo consistió en determinar la relación entre la presencia y carga de helicobacterias en caninos, con el grado de contacto con sus propietarios positivos a estas bacterias utilizando el test rápido de ureasa. Se utilizó una muestra de 31 perros sanos de la ciudad de Chillán, Chile, de los cuales por vía endoscópica se obtuvo biopsias de mucosa de fundus gástrico, los cuales se sometieron al test rápido de ureasa. Los propietarios de estos caninos eran todos positivos a helicobacterias, lo que fue determinado a través del mismo test. El noventa y siete porciento de las biopsias caninas fueron positivas a helicobacterias. El treinta y nueve por ciento de las biopsias que reaccionó positivamente al test de ureasa en menor tiempo, pertenecían a caninos cuyo grado de contacto con sus propietarios era muy cercano. Los resultados sugieren que las altas cargas de helicobacterias encontradas en los caninos podrían deberse al mayor grado de contacto que tienen estos animales con sus propietarios. Por ello, sería importante determinar, en futuros estudios, si estas mascotas pueden ser reservorio o fuente de transmisión para las personas o viceversa y las especies bacterianas involucradas.

Helicobacter, Gram negative bacterias are curved or helicoidal microorganisms, widely spread in the stomach of humans and several animals, found as normal microbiota or causing of gastrointestinal pathologies. The objective of the work consisted of determining the relation between the presence and loads of helicobacterias in canine, with the degree of contact with its positive owners proprietors to these bacteria using rapid urease test. A sample of 31 healthy dogs of the city of Chillán, Chile were used, from which gastric fungus biopsies were obtained by endoscopy. These biopsies were put under the Rapid Urease Test. The owner of these canines were all positive for helicobacteria, determined by means of the same test. Ninety sevent percent of the canine biopsies were positive for helicobacteria. Thirty nine percent of the biopsies with the fastest positive reaction to the urease test belonged to canines with a high contact grade to their owners. The results suggest that the high charges of helicobacteria found in canines could be because of the higher contact grade of these animals with their owner. It would be important then to determine in future studies, whether if these pets could be a reserve or a transmission source for people, or viceverse, and the bacterial species involved.

Molecular mechanisms of Trypanosoma cruzi infection by oral route

Frequent reports on outbreaks of acute Chagas' disease by ingestion of food contaminated with parasites from triatomine insects illustrate the importance of this mode of transmission. Studies on oral Trypanosoma cruzi infection in mice have indicated that metacyclic trypomastigotes invade the gastric mucosal epithelium. A key molecule in this process is gp82, a stage-specific surface glycoprotein that binds to both gastric mucin and to target epithelial cells. By triggering Ca2+ signalling, gp82 promotes parasite internalisation. Gp82 is relatively resistant to peptic digestion at acidic pH, thus preserving the properties critical for oral infection. The infection process is also influenced by gp90, a metacyclic stage-specific molecule that negatively regulates the invasion process. T. cruzi strains expressing high gp90 levels invade cells poorly in vitro. However, their infectivity by oral route varies considerably due to varying susceptibilities of different gp90 isoforms to peptic digestion. Parasites expressing pepsin-susceptible gp90 become highly invasive against target cells upon contact with gastric juice. Such is the case of a T. cruzi isolate from an acute case of orally acquired Chagas' disease; the gp90 from this strain is extensively degraded upon short period of parasite permanence in the gastric milieu. If such an exacerbation of infectivity occurs in humans, it may be responsible for the severity of Chagas' disease reported in outbreaks of oral infection.

The Mucosal Changes and Influencing Factors in Upper Gastrointestinal Anisakiasis: Analysis of 141 Cases / 대한소화기학회지

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Anisakiasis is a well known parasitosis resulted from eating raw seafoods and there were many reports of cases. However, its endoscopic and clinical characteristics have not been reviewed well. The aim of this study was to clarify the gastric mucosal changes and influencing factors of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) anisakiasis. METHODS: We analyzed retrospectively the endoscopic and clinical characteristics of 141 cases with UGI anisakiasis diagnosed during UGI endoscopy, based on the review of medical records. The patients' data were collected consecutively from October 1999 through September 2006. RESULTS: In the 141 patients with UGI anisakiasis, the peak age was the 40s (44.7%). The female to male ratio was 1.82:1. The most prevailed season was winter (41.1%). The most frequent symptom was acute epigastric pain and 76.6% of the patients developed symptoms within 12 hours after the ingestion of raw seafoods. The greater curvature of body was the most preferred site of anisakid larvae. The median time from meal to symptom onset was shortest in esophageal location and longest in fundus location (3 vs. 18.7 hours). The various mucosal changes were observed and the most frequent mucosal change was edema (90.8%). Submucosal tumor was also found in 31.9% of the patients. The severity of mucosal change was related inversely with the time interval from meal to endoscopy (p=0.048). CONCLUSIONS: Anisakiasis presented various mucosal changes depending on the time interval from ingestion of raw seafood to endoscopy. Delayed endoscopy may lead chronic mucosal change and cause difficulty in the detection of anisakiasis. Therefore, the prompt endoscopic examination is required for the patients presenting acute gastrointestinal symptoms after taking raw fish.

A Case of Gastritis Associated with Gastric Capillariasis

This report is about the case of gastritis associated with capillariasis. The patient was a 52-yr-old Korean woman who occasionally ate raw fish and chicken. She complained of mild abdominal pain and nausea, but not diarrhea. An endoscopic examination revealed an exudative flat erosive change on the gastric mucosa of the antrum. She was microscopically diagnosed as chronic gastritis with numerous eosinophil infiltrations. The sectioned worms and eggs in mucosa were morphologically regarded as belonging to the genus Capillaria. This is the first case of gastric capillariasis reported in the Republic of Korea.

Giardia lamblia trophozoites in gastric biopsies.

To assess the prevalence of gastric giardiasis in gastric biopsies of patients with carcinoma stomach and in patients taking treatment for duodenal ulcer. Gastric biopsy specimens from 54 patients of carcinoma stomach and 100 antral biopsies from patients taking treatment for duodenal ulcer were included in the study. Sections were stained with haematoxylin and eosin, methylene blue and May Grunwald-Giemsa stains and examined for presence of Giardia lamblia trophozoites. Eight out of 54 (14.9%) biopsies of gastric carcinoma patients harboured trophozoites of Giardia lamblia. Associated H. pylori infection was present in all biopsies (8/8; 100%). Atrophy and intestinal metaplasia was present in 62.5% (5/8) and 25% (2/8) cases respectively. Sections from seven out of 35 patients (20%) taking treatment for duodenal ulcer showed presence of G. lamblia. H. pylori infection, gastritis and atrophy were found in 85.7% (6/7), 71.4% (5/7) and 28.6% (2/7) cases respectively. First gastric biopsy in these patients was negative for G. lamblia but 2nd and 3rd biopsies were positive. A careful search for G. lamblia trophozoites should be made while examining the gastric biopsies, especially in patients with carcinoma stomach, intestinal metaplasia, atrophic gastritis and those taking treatment for duodenal ulcer. This may help in indirect diagnosis of clinically unsuspected cases of intestinal giardiasis and may explain persistence of vague upper gastrointestinal tract (UGIT) symptoms despite clearance of H. pylori in patients on anti-ulcer therapy.

Strongyloidiasis with gastric mucosal invasion presenting with acute interstitial nephritis.

We report an atypical occurrence of invasive Strongyloides stercoralis infection of the stomach mucosa in an elderly female patient from Bangka Island, northwestern Indonesia. The patient presented with severe epigastric pain, edema of the legs, proteinuria and severe hypoalbuminemia. Gastric and duodenal biopsies found eggs, larval and adult forms present in the superficial mucosa with mild inflammation. The Harada-Mori filter paper culture technique revealed S. stercoralis filariform larvae and free-living adult worms, corroborating the diagnosis. The infection was associated with acute interstitial nephritis. The patient showed rapid and dramatic improvement after treatment with mebendazole.

A case of acute gastric anisakiasis provoking severe clinical problems by multiple infection

Acute gastric anisakiasis with multiple anisakid larvae infection is reported. A 68-year-old woman residing in Busan, Korea, had epigastric pain with severe vomiting about 5 hours after eating raw anchovies. Four nematode larvae penetrating the gastric mucosae in the great curvature of the middle body and fundus were found and removed during gasteroendoscopic examination. Another one thread-like moving larva was found in the great curvature of upper body on the following day. On the basis of their morphology, the worms were identified as the 3rd stage larvae of Anisakis simplex. This case is acute gastric anisakiasis provoking severe clinical problems by the multiple infection and the greatest number of anisakid larvae found in a patient in Korea.

A human case of gastric infection by Pseudoterranova decipiens larva

We report a case of gastric pseudoterranoviasis proven by gastrofiberscopy on Dec. 13, 1994. The 34-year-old male patient, residing in Chungju-shi, was admitted to Konkuk University Hospital complaining of prickling epigastric pain. The symptoms suddenly attacked him two days after eating raw marine fish at Chonan-shi. By the gastrofiberscopic examination, a long white-yellowish nematode was found from the fundus region of stomach. The worm was 34.50 x 0.84 mm in size, and was identified as a 3rd stage larva of Pseudoterranova decipiens judging from the position of the intestinal cecum. This is the 12th confirmed case of human pseudoterranoviasis in Korea.

Gastric cryptosporidiosis as a clue for the diagnosis of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

Cryptosporidium parvum has been detected with increasing frequency in the gastrointestinal tract, but involvement of the stomach is rarely reported. Whenever found in the histologic examination of the gastrointestinal mucosa, it should raise the suspicion of an immunocompromised host. We report a case of Cryptosporidium-associated erosive gastritis in a 64-year-old woman, who was found later to have the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Gastroduodenoendoscopy and biopsy of the gastric mucosa played an invaluable role in the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis and to disclose the underlying immunodeficiency state

Patogenicidad de las larvas de anisakis physeteris inoculadas experimentalmente en canis familiaris / Pathogenicity of anisakis physeteris larvae experimentally inoculated to canis familiaris

El propósito del presente estudio fue demostrar de manera experimental la patogenicidad de las larvas L3 de Anisakis physeteris en el tracto digestivo de Canis familiaris. Las larvas se colectaron de Scomber japonicus "caballa", capturados en las costas de Pisco, Perú. Macroscópicamente, después de las 36, 42 y 60 horas de la infección se aprecia la mucosa gástrica con engrosamiento de las plicas, edema e hiperemia. Histológicamente se observa severa reacción inflamatoria gástrica mayormente conformada por neutrófilos y eosinófilos asociados a linfocitos, así como monocitos y plasmocitos. La lesión se encuentra rodeada por gran cantidad de tejido conectivo crónico. Estas características patológicas son similares a las descritas en la anisakiosis gástrica humana. Consideramos que A. physeteris es un potencial agente patógeno para el hombre y otros animales que se alimentan con pescado en el Perú

Gastric strongyloidiasis in a Malaysian patient.

Strongyloides stercoralis infection is of low prevalence in Malaysia. We report an unusual case presenting primarily with gastric symptoms. The patient was a 72 years old Chinese male admitted for progressive weight loss and abdominal bloating. Gastroscopic examination revealed mucosal prepyloric elevations in the gastric mucosa. Gastric strongyloidiasis was confirmed by the presence of adult forms, as well as ova and larval rhabditiform stages of the worm in the gastric mucosal crypts. We believe that this is the first histologically documented case of gastric strongyloidiasis in Malaysia.