36-year-old woman from Canada was preparing to die from a grapefruit-sized liver tumor. And then it turned out that this is a rare parasite that has lived in the body for 10 years.

Resident of Canadian Edmonton Cassidy Armstrong (Cassidy Armstrong) for many years ignored pain in the right side. At the end of 2019, the woman lost 12 kg, she had problems with digestion and sleep. An ultrasound scan showed a tumor the size of a grapefruit, and doctors diagnosed the patient with fibrolamellar carcinoma. This is a rare type of liver cancer, mainly affecting people over 40 years old.. Cassidy was advised to undergo an emergency surgery until the tumor had metastasis.. The woman agreed to this.

In November 2019, surgeons removed the tumor and sent it to the laboratory.. It turned out that in reality this is not a malignant neoplasm, but a rare parasite. After that, the woman was diagnosed with alveolar echinococcosis, a rare parasitic infection caused by tapeworms Echinococcus multilocularis. It was established that the parasite lived in Cassidy's body for at least 10 years, until it was discovered. Doctors cannot give a full guarantee of removing all of its cells from the patient’s body, so a woman will have to take antiparasitic drugs until the end of her life, according to TODAY.

Armstrong doesn't know where the parasite got into her body. But a little over 10 years ago, she worked on a farm and was engaged in the repair of agricultural equipment. Perhaps it was during this period that the infection occurred. Every month, a woman will have to take blood tests, and CT scan every 6 months. The media does not say why doctors diagnosed a woman with liver cancer without confirming it with a biopsy.

https: // www. medikforum. com /.

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