[Fifty-six cases of human dirofilariasis reported in Japan--a complied table].

Since the first reported case of human dirofilariasis in 1964, a total of 56 cases have been recorded from Japan, including 39 pulmonary and 16 extra-pulmonary cases. The difference in case number between pulmonary and extre-pulmonary sites is statistically highly significant (P = 0.001). Distribution of the lesion in pulmonary dirofilariasis is mainly concentrated in the right lung (P less than 0.001). The rapid increase of human dirofilariasis within the last 5 years indicates that this disease is one of the important anthropozoonoses.