Toxocariasis After Slug Ingestion Characterized by Severe Neurologic, Ocular, and Pulmonary Involvement

Fellrath, Jean-Marc; Magnaval, Jean-François

0). In the light of these findings, the cause of pulmonary and central nervous system involvement was reexamined. Toxocaral acute eosinophilic pneumonia corresponded with the patient's clinical and imaging lung assessment as reported in the literature [11, 12] . Brain lesions observed by MRI were consistent with a hypothesis of cerebral vasculitis caused by toxocariasis [13] . Ophthalmological examination including angiography detected a peripheral and inferior retinal detachment in the right eye along with a yellowish exudating mass located at 6-hour, and all of these signs were evocative of ocular toxocariasis [5] . The patient was therefore diagnosed as presenting with a severe form of toxocariasis that affected the lung, brain arteries, and eye. Corticosteroid treatment was tapered, and anthelmintic therapy with oral albendazole (800 mg daily) was initiated for 10 days [14] , resulting in a substantial improvement in some clinical and laboratory parameters. The table summarizes the evolution. Six months later, an ophthalmological check-up reported a right eye with much less inflammation. The retinal detachment area had resolved with a dense scar. The mass at 6-hour, which looked like a Toxocara granuloma, had sharply decreased in size and was found to be faintly exudating by angiography.