Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

2 results

  • 6 - Medieval Europe

  • Piers D. Mitchell, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    Parasites in Past Civilizations and Their Impact upon Health
    Published online:
    30 March 2023
    Print publication:
    06 April 2023, pp 65-79

  • Summary

    The most widespread evidence for parasite infection in medieval Europe is for species spread by poor sanitation, such as whipworm, roundworm, and the protozoa Entamoeba histolytica and Giardia duodenalis, likely related to the common use of human faeces as a crop fertilizer. The prevalence of infection by intestinal helminths has been shown to be at least a quarter to a third of the medieval population, with a broad north–south divide in the dominant types of parasite. While species spread by poor sanitation were present throughout the continent, in northern Europe where eating raw, smoked, dried, or pickled fish was common, fish tapeworm resulted. The use of dogs by farmers put them at risk of infection by Echinococcus granulosus as shown by calcified hydatid cysts. Human fleas and body lice helped spread the Black Death pandemic from the fourteenth century onwards. Medical practitioners thought intestinal worms were formed due to an excess of phlegm (one of the four bodily humours), while ectoparasites were formed due to putrefying humours, sweat, and grime. Delousing combs were widely used to remove head lice, while the wealthy in Italy applied mercury ointments to their hair.

  • Infratemporal hydatid cyst: a case presenting with blindness

  • N Yazdani, A Basam, M Heidarali, S Sharif Kashani, M Hasibi, Z Mokhtari
  • Journal:
    The Journal of Laryngology & Otology / Volume 124 / Issue 4 / April 2010
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    27 November 2009, pp. 456-459
    Print publication:
    April 2010
  • Objective:

    We report a very rare case of a hydatid cyst in the infratemporal fossa, causing visual loss over a 10-day period, which disappeared with rapid surgical and medical treatment.

    Case report:

    A 14-year-old girl presented with right exophthalmos and visual loss. Over a 10-day period, her visual acuity had decreased to detection of hand motion only, due to pressure on the optic nerve caused by a parapharyngeal cyst pressing through a inferior orbital fissure on the right side. A craniotomy had previously been performed for a right frontoparietal hydatid cyst. The patient had been treated intermittently with albendazole. The patient was primarily diagnosed with hydatid cyst, on the basis of her previous medical history and radiological findings, and underwent surgery. Three cysts were carefully removed from the right maxillary sinus, via a standard Caldwell–Luc approach, and the surgical area was irrigated with hypertonic saline.

    Conclusion:

    Infratemporal hydatidosis is very rarely reported in the world literature, although hydatid cysts are endemic in many countries, including Iran. We discuss the common presenting features, investigation and treatment options for infratemporal hydatosis. Constant evaluation of adjacent organs is necessary, with treatment as required, due to the propensity of hydatidosis to recur in essential organs. Immediate surgery is recommended, both to prevent the development of disease and to improve the prognosis.