Distoma (dis'to-mah)

Syn.: Schistosoma, Bilharzia, Paragon i mus, and Clon orchis. A parasitic genus of the cla Trematoda, the order Malacocotylea, and the family Fasciolidae, being a flat, leaflike, small worm, with scales or spines, and characterized by having the large ventral sucker near the oral. Some of the species occasionally infect man, being found in the urinary bladder, the intestines, the lungs, and the liver, where they lay eggs. They also infect cats, sheep, horses and cattle. D. capense. See Bilharzia haem at obia. D. conjuncture A variety found in the livers of the American fox and the pariah dogs of India. In several cases it has been found in large numbers in the bile ducts of man. D. conus. A kind found in the bile ducts of cats and in human beings in Siberia. D. haem at obia. See Bilharzia haem at obia. D. hepaticum. Syn.: Paragon i mus West erm ann i. The liver fluke; a species about 3 mm. long with a conical anterior extremity and a broad body, with a number of spinelike proce es on its surface. Its normal habitat is the liver and bile ducts of sheep, causing the disease known as the "liver rot." It has been found in a number of cases in the liver of man. D. japonicum. See Clon orchis endemic us, under Clon orchis. D. pulmonale. D. ringer i. D. ringer i. Syn.: Paragon i mus West erm ann i. A species that infects the lungs of man in Japan and China, giving rise to periodical hemoptysis. D. sinense [Cobbold], D. spathulatum. Syn.: Clon orchis sinensis. A variety found in one instance in the liver of a Chinaman. D. West erm ann i. See Paragon i mus West erm ann i. [Gr., distomos, double-mouthed.]