Abstract :
Lymphatic filariasis is very rare in Greece, despite her geographical position. Only a few cases about
affected young men and children have been published during the last century. We report a 2-year-old
Caucasian boy presented to our emergency department with a painless swelling in the right scrotum
during the last 10 days. Neither fever nor discomfort was reported. In the clinical examination, the
right scrotum was hard but painless. An ultrasound and a computed tomography (CT) scan showed a
mass (d 2.04 x 1.34x 2.48 cm) in the right epididymis and it was thought to be a solid tumor of
epididymis. A decision of an exploratory scrotal surgery was made and a right orchiectomy was
performed. The histological examination showed that here were a lot of eosinophil, lymphocytes and
some parasites, namely Wuchereria bancrofti in the parenchyma of both testis and epididymis. Then
some more specific blood tests were done, which were negative for filariasis, and it was decided that
chemotherapy was not needed. In a follow-up period of one and two years after the surgery, all the
tests (blood tests and CT scan) were normal and the child had a normal everyday life. Sometimes
some clinical cases in children could be tricky. In Europe, such parasitic diseases, as filariasis, are
very rare and their diagnosis is difficult for even an experienced pediatric surgeon.
Keyword :
Lymphatic filariasis; children; Wuchereria bancrofti