Inguinal lymphadenitis due to invasion of Dirofilaria repens

Abstract

The paper presents the case of the right-sided inguinal inflammation of a lymph node as a result of invasion of Dirofilaria repens, the parasitic pathogen of subcutaneous dirofilariasis in animals of the canine family. The diagnosis was verified on the basis of the parallel application of morphological studies of cross sections of the nematode in histological samples and the molecular biological method polymerase chain reaction of scrapings of histological material. The localization of this helminth inside the cavities of the human body is extremely rare. Only isolated cases of atypical localization of D. repens are described: in the organs of the chest, cervical lymphatic node in the spermatic cord and epididymis, which led to pseudotumor formations that needed to be differentiated with neoplastic processes. This case is of great interest to experts of various fields (surgeons, oncologists, infectious disease specialists and pathologists), primarily in the differential diagnosis of malignant neoplasms of the lymphatic system.

Keywords

• dirofilaria repens
• inguinal lymph node
• polymerase chain reaction