Usually caused by S. mansoni, S. japonicum, S. mekongi and S. intercalatum infections.
All segment of the colon may be affected, however the main sites of infection in around 90% of the patients are the rectum, sigmoid and descending colon (associated with inferior mesenteric vein) (2)
Adult worms migrate from their initial site in the liver sinusoids to their final site in the mesenteric venules whereupon the female lays eggs continuously. Egg deposition in the gut wall sub mucosa leads to inflammation, hyperplasia, ulceration, micro-abscess formation, and polyposis. These may lead to following symptoms in an individual:
In addition to the above colonic or rectal stenosis may be seen in severe chronic intestinal disease while protein loosing enteropathy may occur in colonic polyposis (1).
Furthermore granulomatous inflammatory response induced by embolised eggs of S mansoni and S japonicum to the liver results in presinusoidal inflammation and extensive fibrosis (periportal or clay-pipe-stem fibrosis) (1,2).
Reference:
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.