Vakalis Nicholas, Vougioukas Nicholas, Patsoula Eleni, Spanakos Gregory, Sioutopoulou Despina O, Vamvakopoulos Nicholas C
Department of Parasitology, Entomology and Tropical Diseases, National School of Public Health, 196 Alexandras Ave, 11521 Athens, Greece.
Parasitol Int. 2002 Jun;51(2):163-9. doi: 10.1016/s1383-5769(02)00007-7.
Dirofilariasis is a parasitic disease, which if treated inappropriately due to misdiagnosis, can cause unwanted complications particularly when the infection is located in the breast. The numerous obstacles that can cause misdiagnosis of dirofilariases by standard morphological procedures prompted the development of a Dirofilaria repens-specific direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostic approach using freshly infected dog blood. Reliable amplification of nematode DNA from formalin-fixed infected human specimens by this method is only possible from relatively fresh biological material, preserved in the fixative for up to 20 days. We report here our first case of dirofilariasis since the development of PCR genotyping, where the pathogen was morphologically unrecognizable and the diagnosis was based exclusively on DNA amplification. We complete our methodological contribution to the clinical laboratory diagnosis of dirofilariasis by presenting two more cases, where the primary genotypic assignment of infection by D. repens was further confirmed by conventional morphological means.
恶丝虫病是一种寄生虫病，如果因误诊而治疗不当，可能会引发不良并发症，尤其是当感染位于乳房时。标准形态学检查程序可能导致恶丝虫病误诊的诸多障碍促使人们开发了一种基于实时感染犬血的特异于匐行恶丝虫的直接聚合酶链反应（PCR）诊断方法。通过这种方法，仅从保存在固定剂中长达20天的相对新鲜的生物材料中，才有可能从福尔马林固定的感染人类标本中可靠地扩增出线虫DNA。我们在此报告自PCR基因分型技术发展以来的首例恶丝虫病病例，该病例中病原体在形态上无法识别，诊断完全基于DNA扩增。我们通过展示另外两例病例，完成了对恶丝虫病临床实验室诊断的方法学贡献，在这两例病例中，匐行恶丝虫感染的主要基因分型通过传统形态学方法得到了进一步证实。
