title: Human pulmonary dirofilariasis presenting as a solitary pulmonary nodule: A case report and a brief review of literature.
abstract: Human pulmonary dirofilariasis (HPD) is an uncommon disease in the United States. Dirofilaria is commonly known as "heartworm" based on the false belief that the worm resides in the heart which was based on findings from early necropsy reports. The first case was reported as an incidental autopsy finding in 1941. Since then only 87 more cases have been reported so far. We present an interesting case of this rare zoonotic disease affecting an elderly gentleman who presented with a rapidly growing lung nodule. We present a brief review of literature concerning the diagnosis and management of this disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center East, 2775 Mosside Boulevard, Monroeville, PA 15146, USA.
authors.forename: Abhishek
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Mercy, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Mercy, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.affiliation: Infectious Diseases Division, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, USA.
authors.forename: Mohamed H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Yassin
keywords: Dirofilariasis; Heartworm; Solitary pulmonary nodule; VATS