Case Report

Enterobius Vermicularis infection of the appendix as a cause of acute appendicitis in a Greek adolescent: a case report

Eleni Efraimidou¹, Anthia Gatopoulou², Charilaos Stamos³, Nikolaos Lirantzopoulos¹ and George Kouklakis²

¹  1^st Surgical Department, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece

²  Endoscopy Unit, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece

³  Department of pathology, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece

Cases Journal 2008, 1:376doi:10.1186/1757-1626-1-376

Published:	6 December 2008

Abstract

Gastrointestinal infection due to Enterobius vermicularis occurs worldwide and is considered to be the most common helminth infection. The simple presence of E. vermicularis in the appendix usually produces symptoms of acute appendicitis. The association of this parasitic infestation with acute appendicitis varies from 0.2%–41.8% worldwide. We present a case of a 15 year old female with enterobiasis of appendix presented with clinical features of acute appendicitis. The appendix was surgically removed and the specimen was pathologically diagnosed to contain of E. vermicularis in non-inflamed and histologically normal appendix. Even if this condition is not uncommon in the Greek population, to the best of our knowledge this is the first report presented in the English literature.