Elephantiasis

Elephantiasis, often incorrectly called elephantitis, is the enlargement and hardening of limbs or body parts due to tissue swelling (edema).<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Citation</ref> It is characterised by edema, hypertrophy, and fibrosis of skin and subcutaneous tissues, due to obstruction of lymphatic vessels (lymphedema).<ref name=":1" /> It may affect the genitalia.<ref name=":1" /> The term elephantiasis is often used in reference to symptoms caused by parasitic worm infections,<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> but may refer to a variety of diseases that swell parts of the subject's body to exceptionally massive proportions.<ref name=":1" />

Cause

Some conditions that present with elephantiasis include the following:

• Elephantiasis nostras, due to longstanding chronic lymphangitis.Template:Citation needed
• 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Nonfilarial elephantiasis (or podoconiosis), an immune disease affecting the lymph vesselsTemplate:Citation needed
• Leishmaniasis<ref name=":1" />
• Elephantiasis, Grade 3 lymphedema, which may occur in people with breast cancer<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

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• Genital elephantiasis, result of lymphogranuloma venereumTemplate:Citation needed
• Proteus syndrome, a genetic disorder best known as the condition possibly experienced by Joseph Merrick, the so-called Elephant ManTemplate:Citation needed

Other causes may include the following:

• Repeated streptococcal infection<ref name=":1" />
• Lymphadenectomy<ref name=":1" />
• Hereditary birth defects<ref name=":1" />
• Pretibial myxedema

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

External links

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