Microfilariae in bronchial brushing cytology of symptomatic pulmonary lesions. A report of two cases.

Two cases of pulmonary filariasis with atypical clinical and radiologic features without significant eosinophilia are presented. A diagnosis of pulmonary filariasis could not have been made without bronchial brush cytology, which showed sheathed microfilariae of Wuchereria bancrofti. Both cases responded well to antifilarial treatment, indicating that the microfilariae were not an incidental finding but were responsible for the symptoms and radiologic lesions.