1/4. Treatment of recurrent, filarial, Calabar-type oedema with mebendazole.A case of recurrent, severe filarial Calabar-type oedema, causing acute discomfort in the patient, is described in a male Caucasian. An adult loa loa worm but no microfilariae were present while dipetalonema perstans microfilaraemia was extremely low. Treatment with mebendazole (1.5 g per day) for 21 days led to the disappearance of the clinical symptoms and microfilariae, and to a decrease of eosinophilia to normal values. ( info) |
2/4. Immune response in a symptomatic case of Tetrapetalonema perstans infection.The immune response in a 49-year-old Italian nun affected by Tetrapetalomena (dipetalonema) perstans following an eight-year stay in cameroon is reported. On admission the patient presented with polyarthralgia, conjunctival pruritus and irritation, oedema of the limbs, generalized itching, hypereosinophilia and low total IgE titre. During diethylcarbamazine treatment and, subsequently, during mebendazole administration, an exacerbation of her symptoms was observed. At the same time, activation of the alternative complement pathway and the appearance of circulating immune complexes were noted, suggesting a type III hypersensitivity reaction. Circulating immune complexes and diethylcarbamazine-induced release of parasitic antigens may also be considered responsible for the decrease of OKT3 and OKT4 positive lymphocytes. ( info) |
3/4. Report of an imported case of dipetalonema perstans in japan.A case of dipetalonema perstans infection in a 34-year-old Japanese male is presented and from his past history there is no doubt that he obtained the infection in Zaire, africa. The morphology and periodicity of the microfilaria were studied in detail and the clinical manifestations of the infection documented. This is the first report of imported D. perstans infection in japan. ( info) |
4/4. dipetalonema from the eye of a man in oregon, U.S.A. A case report.A 21-mm filarial worm appeared suddenly in the anterior chamber of the right eye of a 32-year-old man in western oregon. By a simultaneous irrigation-aspiration procedure, it was removed alive and only slightly damaged and was identified as a female dipetalonema in the fourth stage of development. It was the third such case to be reported from western oregon. In this and one other case the worms were morphologically similar to adult worms identified as dipetalonema arbuta Highby 1943 from the body cavity of the porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) and a similar species, dipetalonema sprenti Anderson 1953, from the body cavity of the beaver (Castor canadensis). ( info) |