Schistosoma mansoni infection in a recently exposed community in Senegal: lack of correlation between liver morphology in ultrasound and connective tissue metabolites in serum

Summary Four hundred and seventy villagers of Ndombo, a village with recently established intensive transmission of Schistosoma mansoni in the Senegal River Basin, were enrolled in a study with the intention to assess hepatosplenic morbidity. All patients were examined parasitologically and by ultrasound. Hepatic fibrosis serum markers were determined in 153 adult patients (aminoterminal propeptide of procollagen type III, hyaluronan and laminin). By ultrasound, about 60% of the patients showed early stages of hepatic involvement, 3% of the patients unequivocally showed severe hepatosplenic pathology (grade 3 according to the Managil classification), whereas in another study performed in the same village 3 years earlier, no patients with severe hepatosplenic pathology had been found. No correlation between the aminoterminal propeptide of procollagen type III, hyaluronan or laminin and the ultrasound findings could be established. These hepatic fibrosis serum markers do not seem to be a sensitive method to detect early hepatic fibrosis in schistosomiasis.     

Multivisceral tuberculosis with aortic complication in an immunocompetent patient

The medical and imaging data of a 59 year old male is reported. The patient presented with cough, fever, night sweats and weight loss, for which a final diagnosis of multivisceral tuberculosis (with peritoneal involvement and mycotic aneurysm) was made, by means of CT, MRI and laparoscopic findings. This disease is uncommon in developed countries with subjects lacking the usual risk factors. Because delayed treatment may be lethal, especially with such serious vascular complication, the authors review the value and limitations of CT and MRI along with the suggestive features.