A case of sparganosis mimicking a skin metastasis in a patient with stomach cancer

Sparganosis is a rare parasitic disease caused by the migrating plerocercoid larva of tapeworms in the genus Spirometra. The most frequent clinical manifestation of human sparganosis is a subcutaneous nodule resembling neoplastic disease. Since the disease is relatively uncommon, even in endemic areas, sparganosis is rarely considered in the differential diagnosis of skin lesions. We experienced a case of sparganosis mimicking a skin metastasis in a patient with metastatic stomach cancer and made the diagnosis after an excisional tissue biopsy. (Korean J Med 77:755-758, 2009)