Summary
An 18-year-old Nigerian girl died suddenly and unexpectedly from disseminated porocephalosis. The patient was hospitalised complaining of fever, dizziness, weakness and jaundice. Clinical examination revealed a restless, confused and hypotensive patient. She died within two hours of admission. Autopsy revealed disseminated Porocephalus armilatus infestation involving the thoracic and abdominal linings and their internal organs. The relationship between the disseminated parasitic involvement and the death of this girl is discussed.
Zusammenfassung
Ein 18 Jahre altes nigerianisches Mädchen starb plötzlich and unerwartet an einer disseminierten Porocephalose. Die Patientin war in das Krankenhaus eingeliefert worden und klagte über Fieber, Schwindel, Schwäche und Gelbsucht. Bei der klinischen Untersuchung fand sich eine unruhige, verwirrte Patientin mit niedrigem Blutdruck. Sie verstarb 2 Stunden nach der Einlieferung. Bei der Obduktion wurde ein disseminierter Befall mit Porocephalus armilatus festgestellt. Dieser betraf die Wände der Brust-und Bauchhöhle und deren innere Organe. Der Zusammenhang zwischen dem disseminierten parasitären Befall und dem Tod des Maächens wird diskutiert.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belding DL (1965) The class Arachnida: order Pentastomida. In: Textbook of parasitology, and 3rd edn. Appleton-Century Crofts, New York, pp 969–972
Manson-Bahr PEC, Apted FIC (1982) Medical entomology: pentastomids. In: Manson's Tropical Disease, 18th edn. BaillierTindall, London, pp 741–743
Warrel DA (1984) Pentastomiasis (Porocephalosis) In: Weatherall DJ, Ledingham JGG, Warrel DA (eds) Oxford textbook of medicine, 2nd edn. ELBS and Oxford University Press, London, pp 5.468–5.469
Edington GM, Gilles HM (1979) Porocepbalosis (Pentastomiasis) In: Pathology in the tropics, 2nd edn. ELBS and Edward Arnold Publishers, London, pp 739–740
Linder RR (1965) Retrospective X-ray survey for porocephalosis. J Trop Med Hyg 68:155–157
Self JT, Hopps JC, Williams AO (1975) Pentastomiasis in Africa. Trop Geogr Med 27:1–4
Manuwa SLA (1928) Notes on a case of porocephalosis. West Afr Med J 2:109–110
Manuwa SLA (1947) Porocephalosis (correspondence) Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 40:507–508
Self JT, Hopps HC, Williams AO (1972) Porocephalosis in man and experimental mice. Exp Parasitol 32:117–120
Buchanan G (1967) Surgical aspects of porocephalosis (correspondence) Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 61:746–747
Cannon DA (1942) Liguatulid infestation of man. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 36:160–166
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Obafunwa, J.O., Busuttil, A. & Nwana, E.J.C. Sudden death due to disseminated porocephalosis — a case history. Int J Leg Med 105, 43–46 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01371237
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01371237