Evaluation of skin biopsies from different body regions of onchocerciasis patients in Central Nigeria.

The diagnostic potential of skin snips from different body regions was evaluated in 97 onchocerciasis patients of Central Nigeria. Biopsies from the iliac crest had the greatest diagnostic potential followed by those of the calf and shoulder with 95% of Onchocerca volvulus carriers being diagnosed from these sites. However, 23.7% of microfilarial carriers in the skin of the outer canthus, shoulder, calf and ankle were negative in the iliac crest. The probability of diagnosing onchocerciasis in microfilarial positives from the 5 sites was, 0.76 for the iliac crest; 0.63 for the calf; 0.31 for the shoulder; 0.27 for the ankle; and 0.08 for the outer canthus. The concentrations of microfilariae in skin snips were significantly associated with the probability of a positive diagnosis especially with regard to those of the shoulder, iliac crest and calf.