Schistosomiasis in Other Parts of the Body

It is unlikely that the radiologist will be concerned with schistosomiasis elsewhere in the body. Cutaneous schistosomiasis may result from the asymptomatic deposition of eggs in the skin, commonly in the genital and perigenital areas. Similar lesions have been reported on the trunk and have resembled herpes zoster.

Occasionally, adult worms may be found in the skin. Schistosomal granulomas due to S. japonicum and S. mansoni have been found in the conjunctiva, particularly of children, and may undergo squamous metaplasia. The uvea, retinal vessels, and choroid have been affected. The lacrimal glands have also been damaged. A small painless lump has been found behind the right upper mandible, growing slowly over 10 years, due to S. japonicum. Such lesions are rare but, in theory, because of the numerous collateral circulations around the portal system in hepatosplenic schistosomiasis, granulomas can occur almost anywhere in the body. Unfortunate tourists have returned home from the tropics with hematospermia and have not been believed when they claim that it was simply a result of swimming in fresh water. We await with interest the first confirmed reports of schistosomiasis of bone!