RESUMO
A case of acute carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) due to filarial infection is reported in a resident of Newfoundland, Canada. The patient presented with classical symptoms and signs of acute CTS and a filarial worm was identified in synovial tissue removed during surgery that was morphologically consistent with the genus Brugia. Antifilarial antibodies were present in serum. Surgical removal of the infected tissue, without administration of antifilarial drugs, proved adequate in eradicating the infection and a subsequent serum sample was negative for antifilarial antibodies. The patient remains asymptomatic more than two years after surgery. This case is unusual in its clinical presentation and geographic location.
Assuntos
Síndrome do Túnel Carpal/patologia , Filariose/patologia , Doença Aguda , Adulto , Animais , Brugia/citologia , Brugia/isolamento & purificação , Canadá , Síndrome do Túnel Carpal/parasitologia , Síndrome do Túnel Carpal/cirurgia , Filariose/complicações , Filariose/cirurgia , Humanos , Masculino , Membrana Sinovial/parasitologia , Membrana Sinovial/patologiaRESUMO
Human dirofilariasis is a rare zoonotic infection caused by the bite of a blood-feeding mosquito infected with a filarial nematode (roundworm). these infections can manifest as stationary or migratory subcutaneous or conjunctival nodules. We report an unusual case of Dirofilaria tenuis (D.tenuis) infection that developed into a space- occupying lesion in the wrist leading to median nerve compression pathology in an otherwise healthy young woman. We also comment on the natural history of the disease and report the outcome after surgical excision. To our knowledge, we are the first to report a case of median nerve compression caused by a growing subcutaneous nodule from a D.tenuis infection.