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A Case of Hematesis and Severe Anemia due to Leech Biting

AUTHORS

avatar M Hemati 1 , * , avatar Sh Vazirian 1 , avatar Gh Solgee 1

1 Iran

How to Cite: Hemati M, Vazirian S, Solgee G. A Case of Hematesis and Severe Anemia due to Leech Biting. J Kermanshah Univ Med Sci. 2003;6(4):e81166.

ARTICLE INFORMATION

Journal of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences: 6 (4); e81166
Published Online: March 19, 2003
Article Type: Case Report
Received: October 22, 2002
Accepted: February 20, 2003
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Abstract

Background & Objective: Leech biting rarely causes bleeding in Alimentray and Respiratory systems and in genital. Leech saliva contains strong anticoagulant materials. The most important one is Hirudine, which by inhibiting the thrombine causes dysfunction in coagulation. Normally leech is taken by contaminated water and goes inside mouth and nose. The most common places of leech bite are the mucuses of nose and nasopharynx which causes epistraxis and respiratory distress. In rare cases it may stick to profunda muscuses like esophagus and Trachea and causes hematemsis, hemoptysis and respiratory distress.
Case report: In Agust 2003 a three and half year old girl from a village in Ilam state was referred with hematsis and due to severe anemia she was transfused packed cell and platelet. The endoscopy showed that leech bite on the esophagus wall was the cause of bleeding. Bleeding stopped when one leech came out through vomiting and another one by froceps.
Discussion: In regions where people use natural water, the presence of leech is a possibility. Therefore people should be informed about the dangers of leech and recommended to use filtered and clean water.

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© 2003, Journal of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.
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