ReviewGenital amebiasis: historical perspective of an unusual disease presentation
Section snippets
Material and methods
Using a MEDLINE search (all languages), reports of 148 cases of genital amebiasis were identified in published reports between 1924 and 1997. Cases were included if the diagnosis was made by biopsy or direct smear for Entamoeba histolytica. The data were analyzed for patient demographics, clinical features, risk factors, mode of transmission, and clinical outcome.
Epidemiology
Of the 148 patients identified with genital amebiasis, 85% were women (n = 126) and 15% were men (n = 22). The average age of those patients for whom data were available was 39 years for the women and 44 years for the men. The country of origin included Mexico (n = 16) and New Guinea (n = 3), with the remainder from Asia and the United States. There were 116 Hispanic, 15 Asian, 13 African, and 2 white patients; in 2 patients, race was not reported.
Coexistent ailments
Of the patients analyzed, 7.4% had associated
Comment
E. histolytica, once more prevalent in the tropics, has now become increasingly common in the subtropical regions as well. In the United States, the incidence is higher in the immigrant populations from Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Residents of the southeastern and southwestern United States appear to have a higher incidence of amebiasis, presumably because of the influx of immigrants from Mexico and South America.1
It was estimated in 1986 that approximately 480 million people
Conclusions
This disease process is difficult to diagnose and must be distinguished from genital cancer, especially in countries in which the incidence of amebiasis is high. The risks factors for the development of the disease are unclear, but appear to be related to sexual activity, poor hygiene, and intestinal amebiasis. The reason for the coexistence of genital amebiasis and cancer is not well understood. The diagnosis is made with cytologic or histopathologic examination or a combination of both,
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