A French case of porocephalosis diagnosed by radiologists

Porocephalosis is the name given to human infection by Armillifer, which is rare, especially in European and North American populations. Among the few cases reported to date, most of them were described in the African community. Humans can become infected, for example, consuming undercooked meat fr...

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Main Authors: François Lersy, Thibault Willaume
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries 2020-09-01
Series:Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
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Online Access:https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/12693
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author François Lersy
Thibault Willaume
author_facet François Lersy
Thibault Willaume
author_sort François Lersy
collection DOAJ
description Porocephalosis is the name given to human infection by Armillifer, which is rare, especially in European and North American populations. Among the few cases reported to date, most of them were described in the African community. Humans can become infected, for example, consuming undercooked meat from infected snakes. Herein we report the case of a 31-year-old male, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who was living in France for many years and presented with lower back pain and mild abdominal pain. Imaging showed multiple comma-shaped calcifications disseminated in the liver and the peritoneal cavity, without any additional feature. The patient reported regular consumption of snake meat during his travels in Africa, and thus the diagnosis of porocephalosis could be made. Doctors treating patients from endemic areas or traveling in endemic areas, particularly in Africa, should become familiar with this infection and consider it in the case of multiple calcifications on imaging. More cases of porocephalosis are likely to be seen in the future because of the increase in international travel.
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spelling doaj-art-e0eeba1bee4a46ba91cbc8626f88f1f32025-08-20T02:27:14ZengThe Journal of Infection in Developing CountriesJournal of Infection in Developing Countries1972-26802020-09-01140910.3855/jidc.12693A French case of porocephalosis diagnosed by radiologistsFrançois Lersy0Thibault Willaume1Department of neuroradiology, University hospitals of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, FranceDepartment of neuroradiology, University hospitals of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France Porocephalosis is the name given to human infection by Armillifer, which is rare, especially in European and North American populations. Among the few cases reported to date, most of them were described in the African community. Humans can become infected, for example, consuming undercooked meat from infected snakes. Herein we report the case of a 31-year-old male, originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who was living in France for many years and presented with lower back pain and mild abdominal pain. Imaging showed multiple comma-shaped calcifications disseminated in the liver and the peritoneal cavity, without any additional feature. The patient reported regular consumption of snake meat during his travels in Africa, and thus the diagnosis of porocephalosis could be made. Doctors treating patients from endemic areas or traveling in endemic areas, particularly in Africa, should become familiar with this infection and consider it in the case of multiple calcifications on imaging. More cases of porocephalosis are likely to be seen in the future because of the increase in international travel. https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/12693PorocephalosisArmillifercalcificationssnake
spellingShingle François Lersy
Thibault Willaume
A French case of porocephalosis diagnosed by radiologists
Journal of Infection in Developing Countries
Porocephalosis
Armillifer
calcifications
snake
title A French case of porocephalosis diagnosed by radiologists
title_full A French case of porocephalosis diagnosed by radiologists
title_fullStr A French case of porocephalosis diagnosed by radiologists
title_full_unstemmed A French case of porocephalosis diagnosed by radiologists
title_short A French case of porocephalosis diagnosed by radiologists
title_sort french case of porocephalosis diagnosed by radiologists
topic Porocephalosis
Armillifer
calcifications
snake
url https://jidc.org/index.php/journal/article/view/12693
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