Small intestine & ampulla
Infectious disorders
Strongyloides stercoralis
Author: Hanni Gulwani, M.B.B.S.
Last author update: 1 August 2012
Last staff update: 17 March 2022
Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Strongyloides stercoralis[TI] small bowel
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Life cycle | Diagrams / tables | Clinical features | Diagnosis | Case reports | Treatment | Microscopic (histologic) images | Additional referencesCite this page: Gulwani H. Strongyloides stercoralis. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/smallbowelstrongyloides.html. Accessed April 1st, 2023.
Definition / general
- Nematode with complex life cycle that alternates between free living and parasitic cycles, with potential for autoinfection and multiplication within host
Life cycle
- Larvae burrow into mucosa of duodenum and jejunum, where they mature into adults
- Females lay eggs, which develop into larvae that pass into stool, where they mature and become infective
- Infective larvae in soil penetrate intact skin, usually through feet
- Larvae enter circulatory system, are transported to lungs, enter alveolar spaces, are carried to trachea and pharynx, are swallowed and enter intestinal tract, where process is repeated
- If larvae become infective before leaving body, they may invade intestinal mucosa or perianal skin, causing autoinfection
Diagrams / tables
Images hosted on other servers:
Life cycle
Clinical features
- Symptoms: none, diarrhea, malabsorption
- Severe / fatal infections in immunocompromised, due to worms moving from GI tract into other organs (WormBook 2007:1)
Diagnosis
- Larvae in stool
- Adult female or eggs in small bowel mucosa, often with eosinophilic or granulomatous inflammation
Case reports
- 43 year old Honduran man with diarrhea and abdominal pain (Case #133)
- 66 year old man with weakness and epigastric pain (Int J Prev Med 2012;3:370)
Treatment
- Antihelminths such as thiabendazole (Ann Pharmacother 2007;41:1992)
- Prevent by wearing shoes in endemic areas
Microscopic (histologic) images
Contributed by Josehp Christopher Castillo, M.D. and Case #133
Small intestine
Various images
Contributed by @liverwei on Twitter
Strongyloides stercoralis
Additional references
