Pediatric Ascariasis

  • Etiology:
    — Eggs of Ascaris lumbricoides roundworm are ingested via fecal-oral transmission
    — Eggs hatch in small bowel and larvae penetrate small bowel mucosa and are hematogenously transmitted to lungs where worm grows
    — Worm moves up tracheobronchial tree to epiglottis where they are swallowed back into small bowel
  • Imaging: Multiple linear tubular filling defects within small intestine
  • DDX:
  • Complications: Small bowel obstruction or pancreatobiliary obstruction
  • Treatment:
  • Clinical:

Radiology Cases of Ascariasis

AXR and small bowel follow through of ascariasis
AXR AP (left) shows numerous round soft tissue densities projecting throughout the small bowel centrally located within the abdomen. AXR AP from a small bowel follow through (right) shows numerous linear tubular filling defects within the small bowel.