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The patient : A 45 - class - old human beings in Saudi Arabia

The symptoms : The affected role pass away to the hospital after receive 10 days of gut pain andfever . Doctors performed an ultrasound of the valet ’s abdomen and found an abscess — a pus - fill mass — in the ripe lobe of his liver . They drained the abscess and yield the patient a 10 - day course of antibiotic drug . His febrility subsided , and the man was sent home .

ct scan of a person�s abdomen shown from the top down

This CT scan of the patient’s abdomen shows a foreign body in the left lobe of liver. (It’s the small, white line on the top-left side of the image.

However , a month later , the man end up in the exigency elbow room after experience six consecutive days of abdominal pain and a fever above 102.4 degrees Fahrenheit ( 39.1 degree Celsius ) — an ostensible reversion of symptom .

What happened next : During the man ’s second hospital visit , ancestry test showed that he had an elevated count of white blood electric cell , a type of resistant cell that fight infections , and lower - than - average layer of albumin , a protein produced in the liver . Doctors conducted an abdominal X - ray but notice no abnormalities . A cipher imaging ( CT ) CAT scan of the patient ’s abdomen showed that his kidney , spleen , pancreas and gallbladder look normal , the doctor wrotein a reportof the pillowcase .

However , when the medical squad examined the central area of the patient ’s liver , they set up two anomalies . One was a wound that attend like an abscess , and the other was a solid , branchlet - like object inside that lesion measure about 1 in ( 2.5 cm ) long .

Urobag showing the worm (left), The worm in a tray (right).

The diagnosis : The Doctor of the Church distrust that the unidentified objective had get the abscess and that it belike resulted in the patient ’s first abscess a calendar month prior , as well .

The intervention : After giving the patient role antibiotic , the Doctor of the Church performed a character of abdominal surgery called a laparotomy to slay the foreign aim . It turned out to be a fish os .

The affected role said he had belike swallowed it while eating Pisces during a repast about five months in the first place , but he did not withdraw feeling anything unusual at the time . Post - surgery , the man ’s stipulation improved . Over the next three months , the infirmary monitored his wellness through accompany - up visits , and he had no further abdominal issues .

An illustration of Clostridium bacteria

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an image of a person with a skin condition showing parasites under their skin

What make the causa unique : Liver abscess are rarefied . In North America , abouttwo grammatical case are report per 100,000 people each class , and estimates for other location can reachabout 17 per 100,000 people annually . The most common causes of these pus - filled wound are contagion that initiate in theblood , bile channel or abdominal organs .

Notably , the patient role had a healed cicatrix in a section of the little intestine holler the duodenal lightbulb . This suggested that the swallowed fish pearl had probably pierced the human being ’s enteric paries and then migrated from there into his liver .

Most small fish clappers , if immerse , pass harmlessly through the gut within about a week , according to the case study .

Researcher examining cultures in a petri dish, low angle view.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not mean to offer medical advice .

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