Dioctophyma renale: Review

Abstract

Dioctophyma renale is a nematode, parasitic domestic and wild animal that causes diochophimosis, designated as a zoonosis. There have been rare reports of the presence of this helminth in human skin and kidneys. It has a higher incidence in Brazil, in non-domiciled dogs and in less selective eating habits, but there are records of cases of infection in the country in felines and in species such as wild dog, guará wolf, coati and ferret. The evolutionary cycle is complex and not fully elucidated; infections are usually asymptomatic and diagnosed by identification of eggs in parasitological exams of urine and worms during surgeries, necropsies, eliminations and sometimes after image identification. The most effective treatment is the surgical removal of the parasite and the removal of the affected kidney, although the infection is still rare in some regions, in others it occurs in a growing number, which shows the importance of carrying out studies, the epidemiological data, biological cycle and diagnosis of the parasite still do not present clear records, being in many occasions accidentally found in the biopsies and surgeries.