Schistosomiasis: A rare cause of acute appendicitis

Abstract

Faten Limaiem, Saadia Bouraoui, Maroua Bouhamed, Ghada Sahraoui, Ahlem Lahmar, Sabeh Mzabi

Schistosomiasis is a water-borne trematode infestation and is one of the most widespread parasitic diseases in the world. Schistosomiasis can affect any organ, but is rare in the appendix. In this paper, the authors report a new case of appendicular schistosomiasis that was incidentally discovered in a 27-year-old male patient from Mali who underwent appendectomy for acute appendicitis. Appendectomy specimens removed from patients with appendicular schistosomiasis often appear macroscopically normal, but histopathological analysis of these cases confirms the diagnosis by revealing schistosomal eggs. The authors strongly recommend that all appendectomy specimens be examined histopathologically regardless of whether the specimens are macroscopically normal.