Pulmonary nodule caused by a living Brugia malayi-like filaria in an artery.

Abstract

Abstract A mature, infertile, female filaria was found in a small pulmonary artery near an infarct-like lesion in the middle lobe of a right lung surgically removed from a middle-aged jute-mill operator, who, after long residence in Indian, returned to Scotland because of sudden chest pain, hemoptysis, and radiographic findings suggestive of bronchial carcinoma. The worm was identified as a Brugia species closely resembling B. malayi, and the lesion was interpreted as resulting from obstructive arterial changes caused by the living worm. The findings are discussed in relation to the filarial etiology of eosinophilic lung.