Dirofilariasis is a rare disease in humans. We report here a case of a 48-year-old male who was diagnosed with pulmonary dirofilariasis in Korea. On chest radiographs, a coin lesion of 1 cm in diameter was shown. Although it looked like a benign inflammatory nodule, malignancy could not be excluded. So, the nodule was resected by video-assisted thoracic surgery. Pathologically, chronic granulomatous inflammation composed of coagulation necrosis with rim of fibrous tissues and granulations was seen. In the center of the necrotic nodules, a degenerating parasitic organism was found. The parasite had prominent internal cuticular ridges and thick cuticle, a well-developed muscle layer, an intestinal tube, and uterine tubules. The parasite was diagnosed as an immature female worm of Dirofilaria immitis. This is the second reported case of human pulmonary dirofilariasis in Korea.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Human Pulmonary Dirofilariasis: A Review for the Clinicians Biplab K Saha, Alyssa Bonnier, Woon Hean Chong, Hau Chieng, Adam Austin, Kurt Hu, Boris Shkolnik The American Journal of the Medical Sciences.2022; 363(1): 11. CrossRef
62-year-old woman with PET-positive solitary pulmonary nodule Biplab Saha, Woon Hean Chong, Hau Chieng, Amit Chopra BMJ Case Reports.2021; 14(6): e243695. CrossRef
Man's best friend: How humans can develop Dirofilaria immitis infections Devin Malik, Akshay Amaraneni, Sukhpreet Singh, Richard Roach IDCases.2016; 4: 43. CrossRef
A 72-Year-Old Woman With Previous Pulmonary Metastasis and New Peripheral Nodule Giovanni Maria Comacchio, Chiara Giraudo, Nazarena Nannini, Alessandro Rebusso, Roberta Polverosi, Federico Rea, Fiorella Calabrese Chest.2015; 148(2): e42. CrossRef
Investigation of Dirofilaria immitis infection in stray dogs from public animal shelters in Seoul Neung-Hee Kim, Jeong-Yeon Kwak, Hye-Ra Kim, Hyeong-Suk Park, Doo-Hwan Kim, Ju-Hyung Lee Korean Journal of Veterinary Service.2014; 37(3): 197. CrossRef
Orbital Dirofilariasis Se Hyun Choi, Namju Kim, Jin Ho Paik, Jaeeun Cho, Jong-Yil Chai Korean Journal of Ophthalmology.2014; 28(6): 495. CrossRef