[Last Modified: ]

August 2002
Answer to Case 90
This was a case of ascariasis caused by Ascaris lumbricoides.  The images showed the remnants of eggs in the tissue. In this particular case, a gravid female worm had migrated to the liver and died where the abscess and subsequent biopsy were taken.  The worm was absorbed by the host, but eggs remained long after the worm itself was gone.  This also explains the presence of a large mass of eggs, which would have been contained within the uteri, rather than smaller numbers of eggs dispersed throughout the tissue.  Initial consideration focused on one of the trematodes typically inhabiting the liver, such as Clonorchis or Fasciola.  However, size and morphology of the eggs excluded these from consideration.

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