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Unusual presentation of more common disease/injury
CASE REPORT
Cryptosporidium infection in a case of appendicitis
  1. Haley Franklin1,
  2. Katherine Glosemeyer2 and
  3. Ali Hassoun3
  1. 1 Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dothan, Alabama, USA
  2. 2 University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
  3. 3 Alabama Infectious Diseases Center, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ali Hassoun, ali_hasoun{at}yahoo.com

Abstract

A 39-year-old Caucasian woman presented to the emergency department with worsening abdominal pain, localised to the right lower quadrant, and diarrhoea for a week. Stool tested negative for Clostridium difficile, Giardialamblia and Cryptosporidium. Following an abdominal CT, she was diagnosed with appendicitis. The histological preparation, along with the acute inflammatory changes of the vermiform appendix, was notable for clusters of small, basophilic spherical bodies most consistent with Cryptosporidium parvum infection. Ultimately, the patient was diagnosed with appendicitis secondary to C. parvum infection. This is exceedingly rare and only one other case has been previously reported.

  • cryptococcus
  • gastrointestinal system
  • infections
  • gastroenterology
  • infection (gastroenterology)

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2019-230419

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors Faculty advisor: AH. HF (medical student): writer and KG (internal medicine resident): writer.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.