[Physiopathology of vulvar elephantiasis of filarial origin. A case report].

Genital filariasis is an uncommon infectious entity in the western world. It has characteristic clinical features and a well-recognized endemic area that causes typical histological alterations. We report a case of a 32-year-old woman, a native of Mozambique, who presented with vulvar elephantiasis as a pendulous tumor with a maximum diameter of 15cm. A large part of the genital mass was resected. Microscopically, hyperkeratosis with irregular acanthosis, a notable thickening of dermis with dense fibrosis and inflammatory clusters of patchy distribution, mostly made up of plasma cells, was seen. Since the parasite was not observed, an exclusion diagnosis was made, as frequently happens with this lesion.