Case report: Ocular gnathostomiasis in northwestern Mexico

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2002 May;66(5):572-4. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2002.66.572.

Abstract

A 42-year-old woman from Culiacan in the Sinaloa State of Mexico presented with a four-year history of migratory, pruritic, painful swellings of the face. Palpebral edema with conjunctival erythema developed when lesions developed near the eye. Routine eye examination showed a mobile worm in the anterior chamber. Following surgical removal, the parasite was identified by light and electron microscopy as an advanced third-stage larva of Gnathostoma sp. This prevalence of this helminthiasis may be increasing in areas where eating freshwater raw fish ("cebiche") is customary.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Animals
  • Eye Infections, Parasitic / diagnosis*
  • Female
  • Gnathostoma / isolation & purification*
  • Gnathostoma / ultrastructure
  • Humans
  • Mexico
  • Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
  • Spirurida Infections / diagnosis*