Clinical and laboratorial features of visceral toxocariasis in infancy Aspectos clínicos e laboratoriais da toxocaríase visceral na infância

Abstract

Forty children with a diagnosis of Visceral Toxocariasis were evaluated prospectively from February 1982 to June 1989. Diagnosis was established by clinical, laboratorial and serological (ELISA - ES Toxocara canis antigen) evaluations. A great clinical polymorphism was found in our patients, ranging from unspecific or absent manifestations to an exhuberant symptomatology. The laboratorial findings were: leukocytosis,eosinophilia and elevation of serum gammaglobulin and isohemagglutinin levels. No significant relationship between clinical findings and laboratorial parameters was found. Serology (ELISA) was a method of great diagnostic support but did not show a correlation with clinical and laboratorial findings in this study. There was a significant relationship between pulmonary manifestations and the presence of signs and/or symptoms, when the patients were sent to us. Our findings, especially the high incidence of pulmonary manifestations, suggest that Visceral Toxocariasis has to be included in the differential diagnostic of children with pulmonary manifestations, characteristic epidemiological data and associated eosinophilia.Quarenta crianças portadoras de Toxocaríase Visceral foram avaliadas, prospectivamente, de fevereiro de 1982 a junho de 1989. O diagnóstico foi estabelecido através de avaliações clínicas, laboratoriais e sorológicas (ELISA -Antígeno ES de Toxocara canis). Em nossos pacientes encontramos grande polimorfismo clínico, desde quadros inespecíficos ou assintomáticos até sintomatologia exuberante, sendo as manifestações pulmonares as mais frequentes. Os achados laboratoriais foram: leucocitose, eosinofilia, elevação dos níveis de gamaglobulina e dos títulos de isohemaglutininas séricas. Não encontramos relação significante entre os achados clínicos e os parâmetros laboratoriais, incluindo a sorologia, apesar desta ser um teste de grande auxílio diagnóstico. Nossos achados, especialmente a alta incidência de manifestações pulmonares, sugerem que a Toxocaríase Visceral deve ser incluida no diagnóstico diferencial de crianças que apresentam manifestações pulmonares, dados epidemiológicos característicos e eosinofilia associada.

Keywords

• Toxocariasis
• Visceral larva migrans syndrome
• infancy