Delhi woman lived with live-roundworms in bile-duct for six months!
What's the story
Doctors at a Delhi hospital removed a whopping 14 live roundworms, each measuring 15-20cm, from a 38-year-old woman's bile-duct.
The patient was suffering since six months, during which she had bouts of jaundice, severe abdominal pain and recurrent vomiting every day.
Resultantly, she lost 12kgs in a month.
Worms are usually found in intestines, but finding them in bile duct is a rarity.
Details
Worms were removed non-surgically, using endoscopy
The woman, Sunita, had been consulting doctors since past six months, who always prescribed her antibiotics.
That worsened her situation and finally she came to Fortis.
When worms migrate from intestines to bile-duct occasionally, a few worms may be found in the duct, but "14 worms is extremely rare," said Dr Arvind Khurana, Gastroenterology-HOD, Fortis, Shalimar Bagh, where the non-surgical endoscopic procedure was performed.
Diagnosis
Abdominal CT scan revealed the presence of worms
At Fortis, Sunita was made to undergo an abdominal CT-scan, which diagnosed the presence of the worms.
Subsequently, a team led by Khurana removed all the roundworms in a single session.
Roundworms are usually found in areas with poor sanitation. Their life cycle starts when eggs released by the adult worms lodged in the intestine are passed out through feces.
Information
Warm climate, lack of de-worming procedures increase India's vulnerability
Roundworms, when passed out through feces of an infected organism, contaminates the soil. Infection caused by worms is more in warm climate, like in India, which when combined with lack of proper de-worming procedures explains why India scores high on number of worm-infection cases.