Ocular Dirofilariasis: A Rare case from Mumbai, India

Dirofilariasis Presenting as Orbital Abscess Complicating Ethmoid Sinusitis

Dirofilariasis in deep tissue plane is seldom reported in literature. A 58 year old woman presented with right orbital abscess complicating ethmoid sinusitis. She underwent endoscopic ethmoidectomy with abscess drainage where a dirofilaria worm was extracted. Treatment requires surgical removal of the worm without the need for anti-parasitic medications.

Case Report: Periorbital Filariasis Caused by Brugia malayi

Brugia malayi is a lymphatic nematode that accounts for approximately 10% of lymphatic filariasis cases worldwide. It is endemic in several countries in South and Southeast Asia. In Thailand, B. malayi is endemic in the southern region. The extralymphatic presentation of B. malayi is rare. Here, we report the case of a woman residing in the central region of Thailand who presented with an erythematous periorbital nodule at the left medial canthal area caused by lymphatic filaria. A viable sexually mature filarial adult was removed from the lesion. The nematode species was identified as B. malayi by histology staining and DNA sequencing of the partial mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene. As far as we know, this is the first case report of B. malayi presenting with a periorbital nodule that has occurred in a disease non-endemic area of Thailand with possibly a zoonotic origin.