Scrotal Sparganosis Mimicking Scrotal Teratoma in an Infant: A Case Report and Literature Review

ABSTRACT

Sparganosis is an infection with a parasitic tapeworm larva that occurs by eating infected foods or drinking contaminated water. The larvae can migrate to a tissue or muscle in the chest, abdominal wall, extremities, eyes, brain, urinary tract, pleura, pericardium, spinal canal, or scrotum. Herein, we report a 5-month old infant with scrotal sparganosis who was initially suspected to have a scrotal inflammatory mass with a history of applying raw frog meat into the umbilicus. Preoperative ultrasound examinations and computed tomography (CT) scanning misdiagnosed the mass as a scrotal teratoma. The scrotal mass was surgically removed, and the histopathology proved it to be scrotal sparganosis. This case displays the youngest patient ever reported with scrotal sparganosis, and the first description of CT characteristics of scrotal sparganosis. A detailed medical history is necessary for patients with scrotal masses suspected of sparganosis. In addition, ultrasound and CT examinations are helpful to rule out other causes of a scrotal mass.