Subcutaneous Sparganosis on Abdomen Mimicking Multiple Lipomas.

Human sparganosis is a food-borne zoonosis mainly caused by the plerocercoid belonging to the genus Spirometra. The most common clinical sign of sparganosis is a subcutaneous mass in the trunk including abdominal or chest wall. The mass may be mistaken for a malignant tumor, thereby causing difficulty in terms of diagnosis and treatment. A 66-year-old woman visited our clinic for the removal of a lipoma-like mass. It was movable, hard, and painless. We identified 2 white mass, measuring 0.2×4 cm and 0.2×1 cm. Pathologic findings indicated the white mass was a sparganum. She recalled having eaten a raw frog approximately 60 years before. A 35-year-old who lived North Korea was also presented to our clinic with an asymptomatic nodule on her abdomen. Intraoperatively, we found sparganum approximately 24 cm size. Subcutaneous masses are associated with clinical signs of inflammation or they may mimic a soft tissue neoplasm. While the incidence rate of sparganosis has decreased with economic development and advancements in sanitation, surgeons still encounter patients with sparganosis in the clinical setting. Therefore, a careful history is required in order to diagnose sparganosis.

Ectopic Schistosoma mansoni Eggs Inside a Lipoma.

Ectopic schistosomiasis is uncommon and tends to occur when the parasite's eggs or adult forms are located far from their normal site. This report presents the first described case of ectopic Schistosoma mansoni eggs inside a subcutaneous lipoma far from the tissues of this worm's life cycle and with no connection to either portal veins or any other vascular system. These eggs were found inside giant cells surrounded by inflammatory cells. In conclusion, in humans, ectopic S. mansoni eggs can be found far from the tissues of the described life cycle of this worm, with no connection to portal veins or other blood vessels used for their migration.

Primary soft tissue hydatidosis: aspiration cytological diagnosis in two cases.

The most common sites of cysts caused by hydatid disease are liver and lung. In the absence of visceral involvement, the disease rarely affects musculoskeletal and soft tissues. In such locations, hydatid cyst mimics commoner soft tissue tumors. A 12-year-old girl presented with a gradually increasing painless right shoulder swelling. With a clinical diagnosis of lipoma, fine needle aspiration cytology was performed, which showed cytomorphological features of a hydatid cyst. Another patient, a 20-year-old man, presented with a right paravertebral soft tissue swelling. Radiological investigations did not reveal any bony abnormality or features of intervertebral disc prolapse and thus, a clinical diagnosis of a paravertebral soft tissue tumor was considered. Fine needle aspiration from the soft tissue swelling showed laminated membrane, compatible with hydatid cyst. No visceral involvement was detected in either of the cases. Parasitic cysts, although rare, should be kept in the list of cytological differential diagnosis of soft tissue lesions. Occurrence of hydatid cyst in a soft tissue location is extremely rare. Aspiration cytology can be used efficiently in the diagnosis without the risk of spillage of contents.