Unusual Findings of Filarial Infections in Man

Abstract

Summary 1. Four unusual cases of filarial infection are reported from man. 2. In one case, believed to be unique, peripheral night's blood of a Palestinian patient revealed post-microfilarial embryos and rhabditoid larvae of a filaria considered to be Wuchereria bancrofti, stages which are characteristically found only in the body of the mosquito intermediate host. It is suggested that micro-filariae which reached the skin from a visceral focus became trapped there and proceeded with their development and metamorphosis. 3. In a second case (Colombia) a single fertile female (W. bancrofti?) was recovered at necropsy from a small pulmonary artery. 4. In two cases single filariae were obtained from deep cutaneous nodules, one from the upper eyelid of a patient at West Palm Beach, and one from the arm of a patient at Jacksonville, Florida. The former worm was an immature female but study of the anterior end indicated that it belongs to the genus Dirofilaria and is apparently a specimen of D. conjunctivae. The second worm is a mature infertile female, of which only the middle and posterior portions were available for study; it is regarded as probably a specimen of the same species. It is suggested the D. conjunctivae may possibly be D. immitis in an inappropriate host.