[Atypical manifestation of toxocariasis in 17-year-old boy--a case report]

Variable clinical manifestations of toxocarosis and poor availability of diagnostic tests cause this disease often misdiagnosed. Here, we present a 17-year-old male patient with atypical toxocarosis. The only symptoms of the disease were diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Diagnostic procedures revealed leucocytosis, high eosinophilia, increased level of C-reactive protein and seromucoid as well as hydrothorax and ascites. In addition, gastroscopy of the upper gastrointestinal tract demonstrated numerous erosions of gastric and duodenal mucous membrane with concomitant inflammation, but without Helicobacter pylori infection. IgG antibodies against Toxocara antigens were detected by ELISA in the patient's serum. During the 4-month follow-up period spontaneous improvement was observed with disappearance of hydrothorax and ascites, reduction of blood eosinophilia and decrease of Toxocara antibodies titre. It could be concluded, that because of a wide spread of Toxocara sp. in environment and frequently atypical manifestation of toxocarosis, this disease should be taken into consideration in every patients with eosinophilia of unknown origin. Moreover, broader availability of diagnostic tests to detect toxocarosis is warranted.