Cestodes

• Cestodes, also known as tapeworms, appear as flat-like or tape-like, hence the name.
• All cestodes are Hermaphrodites, meaning both sexes are seen in one proglottid.
• Cestodes are segmented, with each segment having the vital organs necessary to potentially transmit infections called proglottids.
• The scolex of Hymenolepis diminuta has a club-shaped morphology.
• Diphylidium caninum has a scolex and a rostellum.
• Hymenolepis diminuta is unarmed and does not have a rostellum.
• Hymenolepis nana has a rostellum but is unarmed.
• The anatomy of cestodes is all the same, unlike trematodes that could be leaf-like or cylindrical-like.
• Adult forms of cestodes inhabit the Small Intestines.
• Cestodes have no Gastrointestinal Tract Scolex (Head), which is important in procurement of nutrition and clearance of infection.
• Scolex is also a good indication of clearance of infection.
• When dealing with roundworms, trematodes, or even protozoans, the elimination of all the organisms in the GI tract is optimal, meaning when all the organisms are eliminated out of the GI tract, you can say that the person is cleared from the infection.
• For cestodes, in order for you to declare that the person is free from infection, you have to actually see the scolex come out from the intestinal tract where it is effectively attached.
• Until the scolex comes out of the stool, the medication or therapeutic regimen will persist.
• Not until the scolex detaches itself from the intestinal mucosa can cestodes simply grow again proglottids.
• Scolex is the origin of proglottids where it grows.
• Scolex and proglottids are microscopic.
• Most of the time the place of habitation on cestodes are in the intestinal tract.
• Cestode eggs can vary in appearance, with Hymenolepis nana having polar filaments and polar thickening, Hymenolepis diminuta having a larval stage that resembles an almond inside, Diphyllobothrium latum having a different appearance as it contains an operculum, and Dipylidium caninum having a rice grain-like or barrel-shaped appearance and having two genitals present.
• The infective stage of Echinococcus granulosus involves an intermediate host, the embryonated egg, and a final host, the hydatid cyst, which is a tumor-like mass produced within its host.
• Raillietina garrisoni is a type of cestode that has a scolex with an armed rostellum and two alternating circular rows of 90-140 hammer-shaped hooks.
• Cestode scoleices can vary in appearance, with Taenia solium having hooks, Taenia saginata having no hooks, Diphyllobothrium latum having no hooks but having a sucking groove that has two slits that can make the scolex attached within the intestinal mucosa.
• Hymenolepis nana is a type of cestode that contains polar filaments and undergoes thickening, a process known as namamaga.
• Hydatid cysts contain fluid with clear fluid and may contain smaller “daughter” cysts.
• Hydatid cysts are filled with protoscoleces, which will give rise to tapeworms (scolex) when they mature.
• Cestode proglottids can vary in appearance, with Taenia solium having a genital pore, Diphyllobothrium latum having a rosette-like formation of the uterus, Diphylidium caninum having a rice grain-like or barrel-shaped appearance and having two genitals present, and Hymenolepis nana and Hymenolepis diminuta having larval stages that resemble an almond inside.
• Echinococcus granulosus is the shortest tapeworm and contains three proglottids (one strobila).
• Common hosts of Echinococcus granulosus include dogs, sheep, and other animals.
• Glycoprotein Immunoblot Assay forms of antibody antigen that detects the glycoprotein present in the worm.
• Diplidium caninum, also referred to as the Dog Tapeworm, has a scolex (4 cap-like structure) and rostellum (armed).
• India ink can help to see the protuberance, even the scolex, in Taenia saginata.
• Hymenolepis nana, also referred to as the Dwarf Tapeworm, has 200 mature proglottids arranged equally in size.
• Hymenolepis diminuta has 800-1000 mature proglottids.
• An 8 packet egg arrangement is a sign of a mature Diplidium caninum egg packet.
• If the scolex is present in stool, the person is clear from infection as it is the indicator that person is free from the infection.
• The hooklets from the first larval stage (coracidium) of Taenia are visible under the microscope.
• Computed tomography (CT) and radiographs are not accurate methods for diagnosing cysticercosis.
• Diplidium caninum possesses two genital pores (left and right).
• The absence of hooklets will distinguish Taenia saginata from T. solium.
• Taenia eggs are not reported as Taenia solium, saginata, etc., but as Taenia egg.