Ocular dirofilariasis: Ophthalmic implication of climate change on vector-borne parasites

Purpose: To describe a geographically rare case of ophthalmic dirofilariasis. Observations: An 81-year-old male of good socioeconomic status living in the state of Michigan in the United States, presented to the eye clinic with a painful red left eye. He had not traveled outside of the state of Mich...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Joseph D. Boss, M.D., Gabriel Sosne, Asheesh Tewari
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2017-09-01
Series:American Journal of Ophthalmology Case Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451993616301360
Description
Summary:Purpose: To describe a geographically rare case of ophthalmic dirofilariasis. Observations: An 81-year-old male of good socioeconomic status living in the state of Michigan in the United States, presented to the eye clinic with a painful red left eye. He had not traveled outside of the state of Michigan in over three years. He was found to have a 7 cm long subconjunctival roundworm, which was ultimately extracted. Conclusions and importance: With increasing global temperatures, ocular dirofilariasis is being introduced in more northern climates and should be included in the differential diagnosis in areas previously isolated from these vector-borne parasites.
ISSN:2451-9936