Orbital Dirofilariasis: MR Findings

Summary: Dirofilariasis is a helminthic zoonosis occurring in many parts of the world. We report the findings in a 61-year-old woman who had painless right exophthalmos caused by orbital dirofilariasis. A vivid worm was embed-ded inside an inflammatory nodule in the right orbit. On T1-weighted MR images, the parasite was visible as a dis-crete, low-intensity, tubular signal in the center of the nod-ule surrounded by contrast-enhancing inflammatory tissue. Dirofilariasis is a worldwide helminthic zoono-sis. The species Dirofilaria repens is endemic in southern-middle Europe and in some parts of Asia and Africa (1). Dogs are the primary hosts of this parasite, humans are rarely affected. We report the case of a 61-year-old woman with orbital dirofila-riasis and describe the MR imaging findings