Taeniasis Health Dictionary

A parasitic tapeworm that infects several animals including humans (see TAENIASIS).... taenia

A drug adjunct to surgery in the treatment of hydatid cysts (see under CYSTS) caused by Taenia echinococcus, a small tapeworm (see TAENIASIS). If surgery is not possible, albendazole can be used on its own. The drug is also used to treat STRONGYLOIDIASIS.... albendazole

This disease rarely occurs except in Central Europe, Ethiopia, South Africa, and part of Asia. It results from ova (eggs) being swallowed or regurgitated into the stomach from an adult pork tapeworm in the intestine. In the stomach the larvae escape from the eggs and are absorbed. They are carried in the blood to various parts of the body, most commonly the subcutaneous tissue and skeletal muscle, where they develop and form cysticerci. When super?cial, they may be felt under the skin as small pea-like bodies. Although they cause no symptoms here, cysts may also develop in the brain. Five years later the larvae die, and the brain-tissue reaction may result in epileptic ?ts, obscure neurological disorders, and personality changes. The cysts calcify at this stage, though to a greater degree in the muscles than the brain, allowing them to be seen radiologically. Epilepsy starting in adult life, in anyone who has previously lived in an endemic area, should suggest the possibility of cysticercosis. (See also TAENIASIS.)

Treatment Most important is prevention of the initial tapeworm infection, by ensuring that pork is well cooked before it is eaten. Nurses and others attending to a patient harbouring an adult tapeworm must be careful to avoid ingesting ova from contaminated hands. The tapeworm itself can be destroyed with NICLOSAMIDE. Brain infections are treated with sedatives and anti-convulsants, surgery rarely being necessary. Most patients make a good recovery.... cysticercosis

Hollow tumours (see TUMOUR), containing ?uid or soft material. They are almost always simple in nature.

Retention cysts In these, in consequence of irritation or another cause, some cavity which ought naturally to contain a little ?uid becomes distended, or the natural outlet from the cavity becomes blocked. Wens are caused by the blockage of the outlet from sebaceous glands in the skin, so that an accumulation of fatty matter takes place. RANULA is a clear swelling under the tongue, due to a collection of saliva in consequence of an obstruction to a salivary duct. Cysts in the breasts are, in many cases, the result of blockage in milk ducts, due to in?ammation; they should be assessed to exclude cancer (see BREASTS, DISEASES OF). Cysts also form in the kidney as a result of obstruction to the free out?ow of the urine.

Developmental cysts Of these, the most important are the huge cysts that originate in the OVARIES. The cause is doubtful, but the cyst probably begins at a very early period of life, gradually enlarges, and buds o? smaller cysts from its wall. The contents are usually a clear gelatinous ?uid. Very often both ovaries are affected, and the cysts may slowly reach a great size – often, however, taking a lifetime to do so.

A similar condition sometimes occurs in the KIDNEYS, and the tumour may have reached a great size in an infant even before birth (congenital cystic kidney).

Dermoid cysts are small cavities, which also originate probably early in life, but do not reach any great size until fairly late in life. They appear about parts of the body where clefts occur in the embryo and close up before birth, such as the corner of the eyes, the side of the neck, and the middle line of the body. They contain hair, fatty matter, fragments of bone, scraps of skin, even numerous teeth.

Hydatid cysts are produced in many organs, particularly in the liver, by a parasite which is the larval stage of a tapeworm found in dogs. They occur in people who keep dogs and allow them to contaminate their food. (See TAENIASIS.)... cysts

The immature form of a small tapeworm, Taenia echinococcus, found in dogs, wolves and jackals and from which human beings become infected, so that they harbour the immature parasite in the form known as hydatid cyst. (See TAENIASIS.)... echinococcus

Another name for parasitic worms such as FLUKES, tapeworms (see TAENIASIS) and nematodes (see ASCARIASIS).... helminths

A cyst produced by the growth of immature forms of a tapeworm. (See TAENIASIS.)... hydatid

A synthetic acridine product used in the treatment of MALARIA. It came to the fore during World War II, when supplies of quinine were short, and proved of great value both as a prophylactic and in the treatment of malaria. It is now used only to treat infestation with tapeworms (see TAENIASIS).... mepacrine hydrochloride

A widely used anthelmintic drug (see ANTHELMINTICS) for treating TAENIASIS or tapeworm infection.... niclosamide

See TAENIASIS.... tapeworm

See ASCARIASIS; ENTEROBIASIS; TAENIASIS.... worms

The LIVER may be extensively diseased without any obviously serious symptoms, unless the circulation through it is impeded, the out?ow of BILE checked, or neighbouring organs implicated. JAUNDICE is a symptom of several liver disorders, and is discussed under its separate heading. ASCITES, which may be caused by interference with the circulation through the portal vein of the liver, as well as by other reasons, is also considered separately. The presence of gallstones is a complication of some diseases connected with the liver, and is treated under GALLBLADDER, DISEASES OF. For hydatid cyst of the liver, see TAENIASIS. Liver diseases in a tropical environment are dealt with later in this section.

In?ammation of the liver, or HEPATITIS, may occur as part of a generalised infection or may be a localised condition. Infectious hepatitis, which is the result of infection with a virus, is one of the most common forms. Many di?erent viruses can cause hepatitis, including that responsible for glandular fever (see MONONUCLEOSIS). Certain spirochaetes may also be the cause, particularly that responsible for LEPTOSPIROSIS, as can many drugs. Hepatitis may also occur if there is obstruction of the BILE DUCT, as by a gall-stone.

Cirrhosis of the liver A disorder caused by chronic damage to liver cells. The liver develops areas of ?brosis or scarring; in response, the remaining normal liver cells increase and form regeneration nodules. Those islands of normality, however, suffer from inadequate blood supply, thus adversely affecting liver function. Alcohol is the most common cause of cirrhosis in the United Kingdom and the USA, and the incidence of the disorder among women in the UK has recently risen sharply as a consequence of greater consumption of alcohol by young women in the latter decades of the 20th century. In Africa and many parts of Asia, infection with hepatitis B virus is a common cause. Certain drugs – for example, PARACETAMOL – may damage the liver if taken in excess. Unusual causes of cirrhosis include defects of the bile ducts, HAEMOCHROMATOSIS (raised iron absorption from the gut), CYSTIC FIBROSIS, cardiac cirrhosis (the result of heart failure causing circulatory congestion in the liver), and WILSON’S DISEASE (raised copper absorption).

Symptoms Some people with cirrhosis have no signs or symptoms and the disease may be diagnosed at a routine medical examination. Others may develop jaundice, OEDEMA (including ascites – ?uid in the abdomen), fever, confusion, HAEMATEMESIS (vomiting blood), loss of appetite and lethargy. On examination, cirrhotic patients often have an enlarged liver and/ or SPLEEN, and HYPERTENSION. Liver function tests, cholangiography (X-ray examination of the bile ducts) and biopsy of liver tissue will help to reach a diagnosis.

Treatment Nothing can be done to repair a cirrhosed organ, but the cause, if known, must be removed and further advance of the process thus prevented. In the case of the liver, a high-protein, high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet is given, supplemented by liver extract and vitamins B and K. The consumption of alcohol should be banned. In patients with liver failure and a poor prognosis, liver TRANSPLANTATION is worthwhile but only after careful consideration.

Abscess of the liver When an ABSCESS develops in the liver, it is usually a result of amoebic DYSENTERY, appearing sometimes late in the disease – even after the diarrhoea is cured (see below). It may also follow upon in?ammation of the liver due to other causes. In the case of an amoebic abscess, treatment consists of oral metronidazole.

Acute hepatic necrosis is a destructive and often fatal disease of the liver which is very rare. It may be due to chemical poisons, such as carbontetrachloride, chloroform, phosphorus and industrial solvents derived from benzene. It may also be the cause of death in cases of poisoning with fungi. Very occasionally, it may be a complication of acute infectious hepatitis.

Cancer of the liver is not uncommon, although it is rare for the disease to begin in the liver – the involvement of this organ being usually secondary to disease situated somewhere in the stomach or bowels. Cancer originating in the liver is more common in Asia and Africa. It usually arises in a ?brotic (or cirrhotic) liver and in carriers of the hepatitis B virus. There is great emaciation, which increases as the disease progresses. The liver is much enlarged, and its margin and surface are rough, being studded with hard cancer masses of varying size, which can often be felt through the abdominal wall. Pain may be present. Jaundice and oedema often appear.... liver, diseases of