Dirofilaria repens in a Pediatric Patient—First Case Report from Switzerland

Abstract

We report the first case of Dirofilaria repens in a 4-year-old male patient in Switzerland. The disease is a vector-borne parasitic infection that is not endemic to Switzerland. A 4-year-old male presented with a tender mass in the left groin. The patient was taken to the operating room for surgical exploration to rule out a pathology that could be harmful to the spermatic cord. A node was found along the spermatic cord and excised. Histopathology and microbiology studies revealed the diagnosis of Dirofilaria repens.Even though Switzerland is not endemic to Dirofilaria repens, the diagnosis of a parasitic infection should be considered in patients presenting with subcutaneous nodules in correlation with a travel history to endemic areas. The treatment consists of complete excision of the affected tissue.

A Rare Case of Dirofilariasis in the Genian Region

“…Although in other case reports, patients infected with D. repens stated that prior to contact with the parasite they had traveled to areas such as Croatia, France, Italy, Russia or Sri Lanka, in our case report, the patient had not traveled in recent years and had not reported any trauma in the antecedents [ 5 , 15 , 17 , 47 , 48 ].…”

“…Differentiation of Dirofilaria species from other nematodes is primarily based on morphological analysis, which includes the use of light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and/or DNA-based analysis [ 17 ]. Diagnosis of this condition is usually established by microscopic and macroscopic examination of the nematode or by histopathological analysis, which reveals the presence of a thick, multilayered cuticle [ 18 ].…”