ACTA FAC MED NAISS 2014;31(2):133-138

Case report

UDC:616.995.132:617.7

DOI:10.2478/afmnai-2014-0016

Subconjunctival Infection Due to Dirofilaria Repens - Case Report

Marija Trenkić Božinović¹, Branislav Tomašević¹, Simona Gabrielli², Suzana Otašević³, Aleksandar Petrović⁴, Gabriella Cancrini², Aleksandar Tasić⁵, Milan Trenkić⁶

¹Department of Ophthamology, University Medical Center Niš, Serbia

²University Roma Sapienza, Department of Public Health and Infective Diseases, Italy

³University of Niš, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Serbia

⁴Department of Histology and Embriology, Faculty of Medicine in Niš, Serbia

⁵Public Health Institute Niš, Serbia

⁶Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Medical Center Niš, Serbia


SUMMARY

The aim of the survey was to present the clinical course and surgical treatment of the first case of human ocular dirofilariosis on the territory of the city of Niš, in the southeast Serbia. Male patient, 57 years old, visited an ophthalmologist because of extreme swelling and redness of the eyelids of the right eye, scratches and pain in his right eye. On standard examination on biomicroscope, temporally 3 mm from the limbus, intrapalpebrally, a mobile parasite was observed in the subconjunctival space. Complete extraction of the living parasites, 13 cm long, was performed. A sample of the nematode based on morphological and morphometric characteristics was identified as Dirofilaria repens-like. The diagnosis was confirmed with molecular methods. For ocular dirofilariosis, surgical methods and complete extraction of the parasite are the only ways to achieve complete recovery.

Key words: Dirofilaria repens, subconjunctival, human dirofilariosis