Echinostoma revolutum: Pathology of extraintestinal infection in the golden hamster

Extraintestinal echinostomiasis, i.e. Echinostoma revolutum adults in sites other than the intestine, occurred in golden hamsters experimentally infected with more than 77 worms. Clinical effects included increased bilirubin concentration, the presence of Escherichia coli in blood samples, a decrease in splenic and an increase in adrenal relative weights. The livers of some hamsters exhibited suppurative hepatitis, peribiliary necrosis, hemorrhage, egg granulomas and fibrosis. Suppurative liver lesions contained Bacillus subtilis, B. cereus and Escherichia coli. Gall bladders and pancreatic ducts contained worms and traumatic necrosis occurred in the ducts followed by an intense inflammatory response in the lamina propria. Parasites were also recovered from the stomachs of two extraintestinally infected hamsters with > 77 worms.