Diagnosis of human angiostrongyliasis

Background: Angiostrongyliasis is caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis or rat lungworm. Definitive diagnosis via recovery of the worm is uncommon. The diagnosis is done by a combination of methods.

Objective: Review of available methods used in the diagnosis of angiostrongyliasis.

Methods: We carried out a systematic review to document the available methods used in the diagnosis of angiostrongyliasis using MEDLINE as the main database supplemented by other resources.

Results: At present, only a few cases of this disease are diagnosed by parasitological methods. Thus, more commonly, a diagnosis of A. cantonensis infection is made by the combination of clinical manifestations and a history of ingestion of intermediate or paratenic hosts. In addition, serodiagnosis, including an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and immunoblot test are useful in assisting diagnosis of this disease.

Conclusion: Further development of diagnostics for human angiostrongyliasis is needed for definite diagnosis of angiostrongyliasis