Li Gang, Liu Caigang, Li Fang, Zhou Maoyi, Liu Xiangyong, Niu Yuanjie
Department of Urology, Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin Institute of Urology, Tianjin, 300211, China.
J Parasitol. 2010 Dec;96(6):1152-4. doi: 10.1645/GE-2132.1.
Dioctophyma renale is a parasite that frequently occurs in animals but rarely in humans. The present report describes the clinical observations of a D. renale infection in a 51-yr-old woman. Its clinical signs and diagnostic findings were unspecific until giant worms were observed in the urine and histological findings confirmed it was a D. renale infection. She refused treatment and died of bilateral renal function failure. This is the first confirmed report to follow the natural progression of D. renale infection in a human. Here, we discuss a conservative therapeutic approach and features associated with this parasitic infection.
