Cytological diagnosis of microfilariae in subcutaneous nodule

Abstract

Microfilariaemia presenting with subcutaneous nodule is rare. We report a case of a 22-year-old female patient who presented with a subcutaneous nodule on right forearm. Fine-needle aspiration cytology from the nodule showed many sheathed motile microfilaria on wet mount preparation during day time. Wuchereria loa loa is known to be associated with soft tissue swellings as reported earlier. Nocturnal motility and cytomorphological features differentiate Wuchereria bancrofti from Wuchereria loa loa.

Keywords

• Filariasis
• subcutaneous nodule
• motile and fine-needle aspiration cytology