A “fruitful” cause of acute appendicitis

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.sidebar##

Published Oct 14, 2023
Download
pdf
Vol. 101 No. 6 (2023): Tunis med jun 2023

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.main##

Mona Mlika
Department of Pathology-Trauma and Major Burn Center. Ben Arous. Tunis/ Faculty of Medicine of Tunis-University of Tunis El Manar- Tunis- Tunisia
Imen Ben Ismail
Department of Surgery- Trauma and Major Burn Center Ben Arous - Tunis/Faculty of Medicine of Tunis-University of Tunis El Manar- Tunis - Tunisie -
Ayoub Zoghlami
Department of Surgery- Trauma and Major Burn Center Ben Arous - Tunis/Faculty of Medicine of Tunis-University of Tunis El Manar- Tunis - Tunisie -

Abstract

Introduction: Acute appendicitis is a common health problem mainly due to a lumen obstruction. The obstruction is mainly due to fecal material, lymphoid hyperplasia or parasites. Foreign bodies and especially seeds have been rarely reported as causes of acute appendicitis and account for less than 1% of the different causes.


Case report: The authors described a rare case of acute appendicitis caused by seed and causing diagnostic challenge with the most frequent parasites observed in the appendix lumen. Different arguments were gathered to rule out enterobius vermicularis, taenia species, ascaris infection or schistosomiasis.


Conclusion: Seed-caused-appendicitis has to be known and identified by pathologists in order to avoid the diagnosis of parasites infection which may induce an overuse of antibiotics after the appendectomy.

Keywords:

Acute appendicitis, seed, parasites, pathology

##plugins.themes.academic_pro.article.details##

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

References

  1. Pogorelić Z, Čohadžić T. A Bizarre Cause of Acute Appendicitis in a Pediatric Patient: An Ingested Tooth. Children 2023;10. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10010108.
  2. Issin G, Demir F, Simsek HA, Cagatay DV, Tayfur M, Kandemir A, et al. Seeds or Parasites? Clinical and Histopathological Features of Seeds and Parasites in the Appendix. Turk Patoloji Derg 2023;39:42–54. https://doi.org/10.5146/tjpath.2022.01586.
  3. Campora M, Trambaiolo Antonelli C, Grillo F, Bragoni A, Cornara L, Migliora P, et al. Seeds in the appendix: a ‘fruitful’ exploration. Histopathology 2017;71:322–5. https://doi.org/10.1111/his.13211.
  4. Haak F, Kollmar O, Ioannidis A, Slotta JE, Ghadimi MB, Glass T, et al. Predicting complicated appendicitis based on clinical findings: the role of Alvarado and Appendicitis Inflammatory Response scores. Langenbecks Arch Surg 2022;407:2051–7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00423-022-02533-5.
  5. Sar S, Mahawar KK, Marsh R, Small PK. Recurrent appendicitis following successful conservative management of an appendicular mass in association with a foreign body: A case report. Cases J 2009;2. https://doi.org/10.4076/1757-1626-2-7776.
  6. Balch CM, Silver D, Veterans Administration D. Foreign Bodies in the Appendix. Archives of Surgery 1971;102:1–7.
  7. Byard RW, Manton ND, Burnell RH, Nicholas H, Manton D. Acute appendicitis in childhood: did mother know best? A pathological analysis of 1409 cases A kernel of truth? MJA 1998;169:647–8.
  8. Engin O, Yildirim M, Yakan S, Ay Coskun G, Training B. Can fruit seeds and undigested plant residuals cause acute appendicitis. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed 2011:99–101.
  9. Hulme P. Foreign body causing perforation of the appendix in an African boy. PanAfrican Medical Journal 2010;5:1–4.