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CC BY 4.0 · European J Pediatr Surg Rep. 2023; 11(01): e29-e31
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1768706
Case Report

Dirofilaria repens in a Pediatric Patient—First Case Report from Switzerland

Rebekka Rose
1   Clinic for Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Eastern Switzerland, St. Gallen, Switzerland
,
Kai-Uwe Kleitsch
1   Clinic for Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Eastern Switzerland, St. Gallen, Switzerland
,
Diana Born
2   Institute of Pathology, Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
,
Pascal Heye 
1   Clinic for Pediatric Surgery, Children's Hospital of Eastern Switzerland, St. Gallen, Switzerland
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Abstract

We report the first case of Dirofilaria repens in a 4-year-old male patient in Switzerland. The disease is a vector-borne parasitic infection that is not endemic to Switzerland. A 4-year-old male presented with a tender mass in the left groin. The patient was taken to the operating room for surgical exploration to rule out a pathology that could be harmful to the spermatic cord. A node was found along the spermatic cord and excised. Histopathology and microbiology studies revealed the diagnosis of Dirofilaria repens.

Even though Switzerland is not endemic to Dirofilaria repens, the diagnosis of a parasitic infection should be considered in patients presenting with subcutaneous nodules in correlation with a travel history to endemic areas. The treatment consists of complete excision of the affected tissue.

Keywords

Dirofilaria - D. repens - spermatic cord - testis - scrotum


Publication History

Received: 22 December 2022

Accepted: 27 March 2023

Article published online:
14 May 2023

© 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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