Source
Department of Pathology, Dr. Daneshbod Pathology Laboratory, Shiraz, Iran.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Dirofilariasis due to Dirofilaria repens with viable microfilariae outside the worm have not been reported before.
CASE:
A 40-year-old truck driver from rural Shiraz, Iran, had a firm mass, 2.5 x 2.5 cm, at the dorsolateral aspect of the right forearm. Fine needle aspiration (FNA) was performed on 2 occasions. Several microfilariae with blunt heads, pointed posterior ends and empty caudal spaces resembling microfilariae of Wuchereria bancrofti but longer were seen. Since Iran is a nonendemic area for lymphatic filariae and the patient had a history of contact with a dog, with the impression of dirofilariasis, the mass was excised, and the presence of adult worms in tissue sections confirmed the diagnosis.
CONCLUSION:
This case ofsubcutaneous dirofilariasis was diagnosed by detecting microfilariae in FNA smears and was confirmed on histopathology.