[Acute necrotizing pancreatitis and complete atrioventricular block complicating the course of ascaris infection in an adult patient]. / Pancréatite aiguë nécrosante et bloc auriculo-ventriculaire complet compliquant une ascaridiose de l'adulte.

Ascaris lumbricoides, a large round nematode, which causes human ascariasis, is the most prevalent helminth in the world. Ascariasis is usually asymptomatic but can cause serious complications, with a mortality rate of 5%. We report a 55-year-old woman from Comoros who presented with ascariasis complicated by occult cholangitis, severe acute pancreatitis, and transient complete heart-block. Cardiac damage due to migrating ascaris larvae was the likely explanation of the transient heart-block in this patient, although such a complication had never been described previously.