The clinicopathological features of schistosomiasis of the appendix are discussed, based on the clinical presentation, operative findings and morphological changes in the specimens of' patients seen in Ibadan between 1980 and. Schistosoma haematobium was implicated as the causal agent of a granulomatous inPammatory reaction with eosinophilia andfibrosis. Intramuscular oviposition was associated with frank acute appendicitis, and serosal involvement resulted in peritoneal adhesions, with ileoileal intussusception in one patient. The actual role of schistosomal infestation as a contributory factor in appendicitis is still open to debate, but the diagnosis must be entertained in patients in the tropics with features of acute appendicitis or recurrent abdominal pain.
Schistosomiasis of the appendix was first described by Turner in 1909l. Most cases are attributed to Schistosoma haematobium among African patientsIw3, although mixed infections involving S. haematobium and S. mansoni have been reported4. In Hong Kong, appendicular schistosomiasis has been attributed to S. ,japonicum5.
The actual role of schistosomal infestation in the aetiology of acute appendicitis has been the subject of some contr~versy'.~, because in rural Egypt and parts of West Africa (where schistosomiasis is endemic) appendicitis is both relatively uncommon and not usually associated with schistosomal infestation of the appendix.
In this communication we report the clinicopathological findings in 15 cases of appendicular schistosomiasis seen at