Skip to main content
Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology logoLink to Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology
. 1995;3(6):245–247. doi: 10.1155/S106474499500072X

Filariasis of the Breast in a Pregnant Woman Diagnosed by Fine-needle Aspiration Cytology: A Case Report

Melanie Lau 1, Pamela Tauchi 2,5,✉, Milton Kim 3, Francis Liu 4, Thomas Namiki 2
PMCID: PMC2364447  PMID: 18476050

Abstract

Background: Despite increased immigration to the United States from endemic areas, the diagnosis of microfilariasis in this country remains infrequent. This disease may occasionally present as a breast mass, in the absence of other clinical findings.

Case: We report an unusual case of Wuchereria bancrofti diagnosed in a pregnant woman by breast fine-needle aspiration (FNA) and discuss the clinical implications of filariasis in pregnancy.

Conclusion: FNA is safe and reliable in pregnancy. Infants of mothers with breast filariasis should be monitored.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (475.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BYRD B. F., Jr, BAYER D. S., ROBERTSON J. C., STEPHENSON S. E., Jr Treatment of breast tumors associated with pregnancy and lactation. Ann Surg. 1962 Jun;155:940–947. doi: 10.1097/00000658-196215560-00014. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bapat K. C., Pandit A. A. Filarial infection of the breast. Report of a case with diagnosis by fine needle aspiration cytology. Acta Cytol. 1992 Jul-Aug;36(4):505–506. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bottles K., Taylor R. N. Diagnosis of breast masses in pregnant and lactating women by aspiration cytology. Obstet Gynecol. 1985 Sep;66(3 Suppl):76S–78S. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Eberhard M. L., Hitch W. L., McNeeley D. F., Lammie P. J. Transplacental transmission of Wuchereria bancrofti in Haitian women. J Parasitol. 1993 Feb;79(1):62–66. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kapila K., Verma K. Gravid adult female worms of Wuchereria bancrofti in fine needle aspirates of soft tissue swellings. Report of three cases. Acta Cytol. 1989 May-Jun;33(3):390–392. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lahiri V. L. Microfilariae in nipple secretion. Acta Cytol. 1975 Mar-Apr;19(2):154–154. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Lang A. P., Luchsinger I. S., Rawling E. G. Filariasis of the breast. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1987 Aug;111(8):757–759. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Ottesen E. A. Filarial infections. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 1993 Sep;7(3):619–633. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. SenGupta S. K., Webb S., Cooke R. A., Igo J. D. Breast filariasis diagnosed by needle aspiration cytology. Diagn Cytopathol. 1992;8(4):392–393. doi: 10.1002/dc.2840080419. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Sodhani P., Murty D. A., Pant C. S. Microfilaria in a fine needle aspirate from a breast lump: a case report. Cytopathology. 1993;4(1):59–62. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2303.1993.tb00075.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and Gynecology are provided here courtesy of Wiley

RESOURCES