Microfilariae of wuchereria bancrofti in a patient of chylous haematuria: report of an unusual finding in urine cytology

Filariasis is a disabling parasitic disease and it constitutes as a major health problem in most of the tropical and sub-tropical countries. One hundred and twenty million people in at least 80 tropical and sub-tropical countries are infected with lymphatic filarial parasite, with one billion people being at risk of the disease. The laboratory diagnosis of filariasis is conventionally made by demonstrating microfilaria in peripheral blood smear. However, microfilaria have been incidentally detected by doing fine needle aspiration of various lesions in clinically unsuspected cases of filariasis. In 1982, detected microfilariae in the sediment smears of cystoscopically catheterized urine samples, but reports on detection of microfilaria in normally voided urine samples are extremely rare. Here, we are reporting, such a case of microfilariae of Wuchereria bancrofti in an 18-year-old boy who presented with chylous haematuria.