Pulmonary dirofilariasis: restudy of worms reported gravid

A worm in the lung of a man in Colombia, whose death was caused by lymphoid leukemia, originally reported as Wuchereria bancrofti with embryos in the uterus, was re-examined and identified as a Dirofilaria sp. and its gravid condition confirmed. A Dirofilaria sp. in the lung of a man in Japan, reported as gravid, was found to be nongravid with sloughed fragments of lining of the uterus mistaken for microfilariae. Noteworthy in the Colombia case is the association of lymphoid leukemia in the host and the gravid condition of the worm.