The woman was previously diagnosed with a suspected liver tumor, but when tested at Dang Van Ngu Hospital, doctors discovered that the patient was infected with a parasite.
Ms. NTL (40 years old, living in Hai Phong) went to Hanoi for examination and was diagnosed with liver tumor, suspected of cancer. While waiting for surgery, Ms. L. went to Dang Van Ngu Hospital (Hanoi) for testing to rule out liver flukes.
When he came in for examination, the patient was very confused and worried. The doctors ordered specialized tests and an ultrasound to detect liver damage caused by large liver flukes, not liver tumors or liver cancer.
In this case, the patient only needed medical treatment instead of surgery to remove the liver tumor. During the follow-up examination after 3 months, Ms. L.'s liver damage was gone.
Doctor examines patient. Illustration: Phuong Thuy
This woman said she doesn't eat raw meat or fish but loves aquatic vegetables like pickled celery and lotus root salad.
According to Dr. Tran Huy Tho - Deputy Director of Dang Van Ngu Hospital, large liver flukes causing liver abscesses are common in Vietnam. Large liver flukes often parasitize in liver parenchyma, forming abscesses that resemble tumors. There are two types of large and small liver flukes. The main cause of infection is due to eating and living habits in some regions.
Large liver flukes enter the body from the habit of eating aquatic vegetables such as celery, Vietnamese coriander, water spinach, watercress, and lotus root. The larvae of the flukes swim in water, clinging to aquatic plants and freshwater snails.
According to Dr. Tho, eating freshwater snails and uncooked aquatic vegetables increases the risk of infection with large liver flukes. Once in the body, the larval cysts develop into adult flukes, lasting about 3 to 4 months.
Large liver flukes mainly parasitize in the bile duct, but before that, they enter the liver parenchyma, causing lesions in the form of tumors or abscesses. During the invasion stage, the flukes can move, causing lesions in the intestinal wall, stomach wall, abdominal wall, mammary glands, and sometimes even in the joint capsule.
People should go for screening when they have symptoms of pain in the liver area, indigestion, sometimes epigastric pain accompanied by infection, poisoning, prolonged fever or poor appetite, weight loss, digestive disorders, itching, hives. In severe cases, the disease causes biliary obstruction, cholangitis, acute pancreatitis, gastrointestinal bleeding. Some people go for medical examination, ultrasound and CT scan can be mistaken for liver cancer and liver abscesses due to other causes.
To prevent liver fluke disease, Dr. Tho recommends that people eat cooked food and drink boiled water, especially not to eat raw fish or snails that have not been thoroughly cooked in any form, and not to eat raw aquatic vegetables.
Wash your hands before eating, preparing cooked food, after using the toilet, and after contact with feces or waste; do not use fresh manure to fertilize vegetables. Use clean water for drinking and eating, and deworm every 6 months.
Liver fluke disease is transmitted through the digestive tract and can cause serious complications. People who suspect they have the disease must go to a specialized medical facility for examination, testing, diagnosis and timely treatment.
Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/me-an-mot-loai-rau-nguoi-phu-nu-mac-benh-tuong-nham-ung-thu-gan-172250317092426042.htm
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