Elephantiasis Explained

Elephantiasis
Field:	Infectious disease, general surgery
Symptoms:	Swelling of the skin

Elephantiasis, often incorrectly called elephantitis, is the enlargement and hardening of limbs or body parts due to tissue swelling.^[1] It is characterised by edema, hypertrophy, and fibrosis of skin and subcutaneous tissues, due to obstruction of lymphatic vessels. It may affect the genitalia. The term elephantiasis is often used in reference to (symptoms caused by) parasitic worm infections, but may refer to a variety of diseases that swell parts of the subject's body to exceptionally massive proportions.__TOC__

Cause

Some conditions that present with elephantiasis include:

• Elephantiasis nostras, due to longstanding chronic lymphangitis
• Elephantiasis tropica (known as lymphatic filariasis), caused by a number of parasitic worms, particularly Wuchereria bancrofti. More than 120 million people, mostly in Africa and Southeast Asia, are affected.^[2]
• Nonfilarial elephantiasis (or podoconiosis), an immune disease affecting the lymph vessels
• Leishmaniasis
• Elephantiasis, Grade 3 lymphedema which may occur in people with breast cancer^[3]
• Genital elephantiasis, result of lymphogranuloma venereum
• Proteus syndrome, a genetic disorder best known as the condition possibly experienced by Joseph Merrick, the so-called "Elephant Man"

Other causes may include:

• Repeated streptococcal infection
• Lymphadenectomy
• Hereditary birth defects
• Pretibial myxedema

Other diseases, such as the rare Klippel–Trénaunay syndrome, can initially be misdiagnosed as elephantiasis.

External links

• Elephantiasis . VIII . 126 . 1 .
• Web site: Lymphatic filariasis . World Health Organization . 1 June 2018.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Definition of ELEPHANTIASIS. www.merriam-webster.com. en. 2018-06-28.
2. Web site: Carlson. Emily. Taking the 'Bite' Out of Vector-Borne Diseases - Inside Life Science Series - National Institute of General Medical Sciences. publications.nigms.nih.gov. 29 November 2016. 27 March 2013. 28 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180728010133/https://publications.nigms.nih.gov/insidelifescience/vector-borne-diseases.html. dead.
3. Web site: Lymphedema. National Cancer Institute. 29 November 2016. 29 May 2015.