title: Giant scrotal elephantiasis: an idiopathic case.
abstract: Scrotal elephantiasis is very rare disease in industrialized countries, where it is mainly due to surgery, irradiation or malignancies. It can be defined as idiopathic only when the possible congenital, infectious and compressive causes are excluded. We report a case of massive scrotal lymphoedema in an adult Caucasian patient, in Italy. He presented an extremely voluminous scrotal mass measuring 50 x 47 x 13 cm (weight 18 kg), which extended below his knees, invalidating all his daily activities. The patient was hospitalized in order to undergo to surgical treatment. Although genetic causes were searched and the possible role of infectious agents and compressive factors was evaluated, no etiology was ascertained. Histopathologic examination showed non-specific chronic inflammation, confirming the diagnosis of idiopathic elephantiasis. One year after surgical treatment, the patient is healthy without recurrence signs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, CIR, Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dianzani
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gaspardini
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Persichetti
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brunetti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pizzuti
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Margiotti
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Degener
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004604:Elephantiasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012611:Scrotum / Q000473:pathology*; D040321:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D040321:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3