Journal of Tropical Pediatrics Advance Access originally published online on September 26, 2005
Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 2006 52(3):223-225; doi:10.1093/tropej/fmi092
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Brief Report/Case Report |
Ocular Angiostrongyliasis in a Child First Case Report from India
a Department of Microbiology and Ophthalmology, Guru Nanak Eye Centre and b Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi, India
Correspondence: Dr Shalini Malhotra, Jr Specialist (Microbiology), Guru Nanak Eye Centre, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Marg, New Delhi 110 002, India. E-mail <drshalinimalhotra{at}yahoo.com>.
A rare case report of Angiostrongylus cantonensis (rat lung worm) from the eye is presented here. This worm generally causes eosinophilic meningo-encephalitis and accidentally infects humans by ingestion of uncooked snails, slugs, frogs etc. The child was presented to us with diminished vision in left eye. Slit lamp examination showed an actively motile worm in the anterior chamber. Surgical extraction of the worm was performed and it was identified as A. cantonensis. This is the first case of ocular A. cantonensis infection from India with no signs or symptoms of meningitis. After surgery, the visual acuity of the patient returned to normal.