Angiostrongylus cantonensis – Adult worms in rodent's lung (HES stain X 400)

France, CHU Rennes Parasitologie-Mycologie

Adult Angiostrongylus (Parastrongylus) cantonensis lives in the branches of rodents’ pulmonary arteries. Larvae are passed in stools. On this pic, both cross-sections are evocative of a nematode structure. They display muscle cells of polymyarian type, as well as a digestive tract with a syncytial wall, and 2 uterine branches. Pulmonary artery is thrombotic. Sections of eggs or larvae are visible in lung parenchyma.