Doctors of the National Medical Research Radiological Centre know how to conquer elephantiasis.

Seven years ago, a resident of Ryazan began to notice signs of some kind of skin change and a sharp increase in the size of the scrotum. According to the patient himself, it all started with the fact that he often took a hot shower. By the time of contacting the N. Lopatkin Scientific Research Institute of Urology and Interventional Radiology – branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution of the “National Medical Research Radiological Centre” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, he was already diagnosed with grade III lymphedema, which affected the genitals and lower extremities, and the swelling of the scrotum reached a size that it contained 28 liters of fluid.

Elephantiasis is a persistent increase in the size of any part of the body due to painful growth of the skin and subcutaneous tissue. As a result, constant stagnation of lymph develops with the formation of edema. That damage to the lymphatic system in 90% of cases is caused by mosquitoes that transmit a certain type of infection. However, for Europe this disease is extremely rare, and, according to experts, it occurs as a result of various inflammatory and infectious diseases, injuries, tumors of soft tissues and the lymphatic system. Sporadic of acquired elephantiasis of the external genitalia is a very rare disease that occurs in 0.51% per 10,000 population. Our patient also fell into this cohort.

“We carried out the necessary examination of the patient and came to a clear conclusion: we need to prepare the patient for surgery,” says the chief researcher of the department of oncourology, MD. R.M. Safarov. Our Center has accumulated extensive experience in working with similar diseases, and although in this case the situation was complicated by concomitant diseases of hypertension, diabetes, trophic lesions of the legs and feet, we fully coped with the task.”

The operation under the leadership of Professor Safarov was successful. In addition, specialists managed to preserve and reconstruct the penis using the patient’s tissue, which will undoubtedly provide him with a more comfortable life and possible socialization. After all, such patients are often left alone with the disease and suffer alone, because they cannot move or normally carry out normal life functions. Now all this is behind us. And let’s hope it’s forever.