A case of vesical and scrotal sparganosis presenting as a scrotal mass

A 59-year-old Korean man complained of a painless scrotal hard nodule and weak urine stream. The ultrasound scan revealed a 2.2-cm sized round heteroechogenic nodule located in the extratesticular area. Microscopic hematuria was detected in routine laboratory examinations. On scrotal exploration, multiple spargana were incidentally found in the mass and along the left spermatic cord. On cystoscopy, a 10-mm sized mucosal elevation was found in the right side of the bladder dome. After transurethral resection of the covered mucosa, larval tapeworms were removed from inside of the nodule by forceps. Plerocercoids of Spirometra erinacei was confirmed morphologically and also by PCR-sequencing analysis from the extracted tissue of the urinary bladder. So far as the literature is concerned, this is the first worm (PCR)-proven case of sparganosis in the urinary bladder.