A man in India was found to have a testicle full of “dancing” worms that have apparently been causing him discomfort for a month.
The 26-year-old from Delhi visited Max Super Specialty Hospital for a fever, as well as pain and swelling in his genital area. Doctors immediately believed that he was suffering from some sort of parasitic infection and performed an ultrasound. They were in for a shock when multiple moving structures were seen in the ultrasound footage, appearing to be “dancing” inside his dilated lymphatic channel.
The phenomenon is known as the “filarial dance sign,” which occurs when live worms have “migrated into lymphatic channels, causing dilation and dysfunction.” Ultimately, he was diagnosed with lymphatic filariasis, also known as elephantiasis. This illness is caused by a mosquito bite that infects the patient’s body with a microscopic roundworm from the Wuchereria bancrofti species. Once the worms were inside his private area, they caused fluid to build up, leading to the massive swelling that he experienced.
Luckily for the young man, his testicles were able to be saved without surgical intervention. Doctors placed him on a three-week regimen of the antiparasitic drug diethylcarbamazine. After treatment, a second ultrasound that was performed found that the parasites were long gone.
