Alessandro Franzò, Andrea Marino, Benedetto Maurizio Celesia, Roberto Bruno, Pieralba Catalano, Sebastiano Cacciaguerra, Stefano Reale, Bruno Santi Cacopardo, Giuseppe Nunnari
{"title":"一名5岁男孩的精索中重现Dirofilaria:意大利罕见的儿科病例。","authors":"Alessandro Franzò, Andrea Marino, Benedetto Maurizio Celesia, Roberto Bruno, Pieralba Catalano, Sebastiano Cacciaguerra, Stefano Reale, Bruno Santi Cacopardo, Giuseppe Nunnari","doi":"10.3390/tropicalmed10070184","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We report the case of a 5-year-old boy from a Sri Lankan migrant family in Catania, Italy, diagnosed with a <i>Dirofilaria repens</i> infection in the spermatic cord. The child presented with pain and swelling in the left inguinal area. Initial evaluation suggested orchiepididymitis, which was treated unsuccessfully with amoxicillin/clavulanate and NSAIDs. As symptoms worsened, torsion of the Morgagni hydatid was considered. An exploratory surgery revealed a firm mass in the left spermatic cord. Histopathological examination of the excised lesion showed fragments of a helminth within a granulomatous inflammatory reaction. Subsequent PCR analysis detected <i>D. repens</i> DNA. The patient fully recovered after surgical excision of the mass. Given the increasing incidence of human dirofilariasis, <i>D. repens</i> should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexplained subcutaneous or inguinal nodules, especially in patients with a relevant travel history. This case highlights the importance of accurate diagnosis to avoid unnecessary invasive procedures or prolonged antimicrobial therapies. It represents one of the youngest pediatric cases with genital involvement reported in Italy, a country that accounts for half of the cases in Europe.</p>","PeriodicalId":23330,"journal":{"name":"Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease","volume":"10 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.6000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12299199/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"<i>Dirofilaria repens</i> in the Spermatic Cord of a 5-Year-Old Boy: A Rare Pediatric Case in Italy.\",\"authors\":\"Alessandro Franzò, Andrea Marino, Benedetto Maurizio Celesia, Roberto Bruno, Pieralba Catalano, Sebastiano Cacciaguerra, Stefano Reale, Bruno Santi Cacopardo, Giuseppe Nunnari\",\"doi\":\"10.3390/tropicalmed10070184\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><p>We report the case of a 5-year-old boy from a Sri Lankan migrant family in Catania, Italy, diagnosed with a <i>Dirofilaria repens</i> infection in the spermatic cord. The child presented with pain and swelling in the left inguinal area. Initial evaluation suggested orchiepididymitis, which was treated unsuccessfully with amoxicillin/clavulanate and NSAIDs. As symptoms worsened, torsion of the Morgagni hydatid was considered. An exploratory surgery revealed a firm mass in the left spermatic cord. Histopathological examination of the excised lesion showed fragments of a helminth within a granulomatous inflammatory reaction. Subsequent PCR analysis detected <i>D. repens</i> DNA. The patient fully recovered after surgical excision of the mass. Given the increasing incidence of human dirofilariasis, <i>D. repens</i> should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexplained subcutaneous or inguinal nodules, especially in patients with a relevant travel history. This case highlights the importance of accurate diagnosis to avoid unnecessary invasive procedures or prolonged antimicrobial therapies. It represents one of the youngest pediatric cases with genital involvement reported in Italy, a country that accounts for half of the cases in Europe.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":23330,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease\",\"volume\":\"10 7\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.6000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-06-29\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12299199/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed10070184\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"INFECTIOUS DISEASES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed10070184","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"INFECTIOUS DISEASES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Dirofilaria repens in the Spermatic Cord of a 5-Year-Old Boy: A Rare Pediatric Case in Italy.
We report the case of a 5-year-old boy from a Sri Lankan migrant family in Catania, Italy, diagnosed with a Dirofilaria repens infection in the spermatic cord. The child presented with pain and swelling in the left inguinal area. Initial evaluation suggested orchiepididymitis, which was treated unsuccessfully with amoxicillin/clavulanate and NSAIDs. As symptoms worsened, torsion of the Morgagni hydatid was considered. An exploratory surgery revealed a firm mass in the left spermatic cord. Histopathological examination of the excised lesion showed fragments of a helminth within a granulomatous inflammatory reaction. Subsequent PCR analysis detected D. repens DNA. The patient fully recovered after surgical excision of the mass. Given the increasing incidence of human dirofilariasis, D. repens should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexplained subcutaneous or inguinal nodules, especially in patients with a relevant travel history. This case highlights the importance of accurate diagnosis to avoid unnecessary invasive procedures or prolonged antimicrobial therapies. It represents one of the youngest pediatric cases with genital involvement reported in Italy, a country that accounts for half of the cases in Europe.