[Vesical schistosomiasis: an uncommon cause of bladder wall thickening]. / La esquistosomiasis vesical: una causa poco frecuente de engrosamiento de la pared vesical.

Schistosomiasis is typically a tropical disease; however, given the large influx of immigrants to our country and the boom in tourism to exotic locations, schistosomiasis should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of certain clinical entities. The flatworm Schistosoma haematobium can cause a large variety of lesions in the urinary tract. The most common sites of involvement are the bladder and the lower third of the ureters, where it can cause lesions ranging from lithiasis and ureteral stenosis to the formation of masses inside the bladder. Ultrasonography is the imaging technique of choice for evaluating these alterations in the bladder; in addition to being fast, noninvasive, and painless, it is very useful for monitoring the response to antihelmintic treatment. We believe that it is essential to know the alterations in the urinary tract caused by this trematode, as this infectious disease that can be cured with Praziquantel might be confused with tumor diseases, such as vesical masses.

La esquistosomiasis vesical: una causa poco frecuente de engrosamiento de la pared vesical / Vesical schistosomiasis: an uncommon cause of bladder wall thickening

La esquistosomiasis es una enfermedad típicamente tropical, pero dada la gran afluencia de inmigrantes a nuestro país y el auge del turismo exótico a este tipo de lugares, debemos tenerla en cuenta en el diagnóstico diferencial de ciertas entidades clínicas. Dentro del tracto urinario, el Schistosoma haematobium puede ocasionar una gran variedad de lesiones, siendo los lugares más afectados la vejiga y el tercio inferior de los uréteres. En estos lugares puede originar desde la formación de litiasis y estenosis ureterales hasta el desarrollo de masas intravesicales. En la vejiga, la técnica radiológica de elección para evaluar las alteraciones es la ecografía ya que, además de ser una técnica rápida, inocua e indolora, es muy útil para monitorizar la respuesta al tratamiento antihelmíntico. Creemos que es fundamental conocer las alteraciones causadas por este trematodo en el tracto urinario, ya que es posible confundir esta entidad infecciosa, curable con praziquantel, con la existencia de una patología tumoral, como en el caso de las masas vesicales (AU)

Schistosomiasis is typically a tropical disease; however, given the large influx of immigrants to our country and the boom in tourism to exotic locations, schistosomiasis should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of certain clinical entities. The flatworm Schistosoma haematobium can cause a large variety of lesions in the urinary tract. The most common sites of involvement are the bladder and the lower third of the ureters, where it can cause lesions ranging from lithiasis and ureteral stenosis to the formation of masses inside the bladder. Ultrasonography is the imaging technique of choice for evaluating these alterations in the bladder; in addition to being fast, noninvasive, and painless, it is very useful for monitoring the response to antihelmintic treatment. We believe that it is essential to know the alterations in the urinary tract caused by this trematode, as this infectious disease that can be cured with Praziquantel might be confused with tumor diseases, such as vesical masses (AU)