CHOLESTASIS DUE TO FASCIOLA-HEPATICA

Human infestation with Fasciola hepatica is observed occasionally. Cho lestasis due to parasitic obstruction of the common duct is an infrequ ent complication. A case of fascioliasis is described in a 56 year-old male with symptoms of biliary colic and biochemical cholestasis. The diagnosis was based on the indirect hemagglutination test and the evid ence of Fasciola hepatica in the extrahepatic biliary tract shown by u ltrasound and ERCP. The patient presented an acute pancreatic reaction during an attempt at therapeutic endoscopic sphincterotomy. Medical t reatment was initiated then with Bithionol. Cholestasis as well as the parasitosis were eliminated. Recovery was demonstrated by the normali ty of the titres of hemagglutination and of the biliary tract by ERCP.