title: A case of human conjunctival dirofilariosis by Dirofilaria immitis in Italy.
abstract: This short communication describes a case of human conjunctival dirofilariosis by Dirofilaria immitis. A 51-year-old man from the Emilia-Romagna region of northeastern Italy referred for ocular foreign body sensation in his right eye. A slight swelling of the bulbar conjunctiva was observed. A live, whitish, 10-cm-long nematode was extracted from the subconjunctival space. Histology revealed typical features of a filarioid nematode belonging to the genus Dirofilaria sp. Molecular analysis with polymerase chain reaction confirmed that the extracted nematode was a male of D. immitis. The removal of the parasite leads to complete resolution of symptoms. Ocular human dirofilariosis caused by infection with the filarioid nematode D. immitis is extremely rare, but should be considered in humans living in Italian endemic areas.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Ophthalmology, University of Parma, via del Taglio 10, Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Fernando O
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Avellis
authors.forename: Laura H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mora
authors.forename: Amos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bartolino
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Benedetti
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rivasi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000469:parasitology*; D004183:Dirofilaria immitis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004184:Dirofilariasis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016896:Treatment Outcome