A Case of a Huge Unilateral Lower Limb Swelling of an Adult in South India

Our objective is to present a clinical case of chronic elephantiasis in an adult living in South India. The objectives of this case report are to discuss the clinical presentation, and appropriate management of this malformation. Lymphatic filariasis affects nearly 120 million people in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world and 66% of the people at risk of the disease live in WHO's Southeast Asia region?including India. Filarial worms are nematodes that dwell in the subcutaneous tissues and lymphatics of human hosts. In India, The filarial nematodes (Wuchereria bancrofti and Brugia malayi) that cause these diseases are transmitted by blood-feeding insects and produce chronic and long-term infection through suppression of host immunity. The salient clinical feature of the disease is lymphangitis leading to elephantiasis of the legs, arms, scrotum and breast. We report such a case of filariasis causing massive disfigurement of lower limb and physical discomfort among others to the patient.