[Human dirofilariasis in Sardinia: 4 new cases. Review of published cases]

Four new cases of Human Dirofilariasis in Sardinia are described: I subconjunctival and 3 subcutaneous. The patients were men in 3 cases and woman in the other one. The age of the subjects varied from 35 to 58 years. The parasite, Dirofilaria repens, was in all the cases a female. From the review of the literature only 3 other cases were reported in the island. Due to the diffuse presence of both the causal agent, D. repens, in dogs and many species of Culicidae that can transmit the infection to man, it is possible that human cases are more common than reported, many cases passing undiagnosed or simply not published.