Welcome back to the very end of our microfilariae block with Idzi Potters and the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp! We are going to end with a very special and somewhat unusual case. The patient is an elderly man with recent travel to Senegal who had a 10-cm round worm removed from the conjunctiva of his left eye (!). Blood obtained around the same time revealed the following microfilariae measuring >200 micrometers long:
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Very beautiful case. I wonder how Idzi could be so lucky to have such a treasure trove of parasites collection. Any way, we owe him and Dr. Pritt for their generous gift of knowledge.
ReplyDeleteLet’s take a look at the case. First, I don’t see a sheath neither on the cephalic nor the caudal aspect. This rules out all the sheathed microfilaria. Second, the length of the microfilaria is over two hundred micrometers, this eliminates all possible Mansonellas. Lastly, the last visible nucleus stops quite a distance from the end of the tail and confirm a diagnosis of Onchocerca volvulus infection.
Had the patient been anywhere near a river? We all wish he were spared blindness.
Florida Fan
Hi Florida Fan!
DeleteMany thanks for the compliments! They are well appreciated!
About the case: nice deduction, morphologically you are right… but have you noticed that the microfilariae were found in the blood?
The blood-microfilariae may be found in skin preparations, but I have never found skin-microfilariae in blood preparations…
Try again 😉
PS: that comment above was from me… 🤣
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DeleteGreetings, Dr. Pritt,
ReplyDeleteI'm a medical student in Colombia, a tropical country abundant with parasites (and beautiful natural wonders). I've had the privilege of being mentored by Dr. Gloria Palma, who was responsible for the eradication of a local endemic focus of O. volvulus, supposedly making us the first country to achieve onchocerciasis eradication.
I recently discovered this website and I wanted to take this opportunity to extend my congratulations on your valuable work. It's truly appreciated and serves as a valuable resource.
If you ever conduct research in our country or simply come for traveling, I'd be glad to help and learn everything I can from you.
My email is juan.santillana@correounivalle.edu.co
Best regards,
Juan Santillana.
Ps. I'm proficient in immunofluorescence staining and quantitation, and I have experience in several histological techniques.
DeleteIdzi, you have a point. I only give it my best. The CDC website says it may occasionally found in the blood, yet I’m still awaiting to learn the correct answer and how to reason it out
ReplyDeleteFlorida Fan
Dirofilaria spp
ReplyDeleteIf I: Actually I had thought of Dirofilaria as this is the last of the series, but doing so if I were correct than I would’ve got it by crook and not by hook. So I may be wrong, at least I have been honest.
ReplyDeleteFlorida Fan
Your honesty and contributions are always greatly appreciated, Florida Fan!
ReplyDeleteBobbi