International Journal of Clinical Case Reports 2017, Vol.7, No.6, 23-27
23
Case Report Open Access
Oral Myiasis: A Rare Case Report
M.V.R. Ratnam
1
, Lakshmana N.
1
, Abhishek Singh Nayyar
2
, Vamsi Pavani B.
1
, Upendra G.
1
, S.V.N. Sashi Kiran
3
1 Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Sri Sai Dental College and Research Institute, Srikakulum, Andhra Pradesh, India
2 Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Saraswati-Dhanwantari Dental College and Hospital and Post-Graduate Research Institute, Parbhani,
Maharashtra, India
3 Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Sri Sai Dental College and Research Institute, Srikakulum, Andhra Pradesh, India
Corresponding author email
International Journal of Clinical Case Reports 2017, Vol.7, No.6 doi
Received: 22 Mar., 2017
Accepted: 21 May, 2017
Published: 16 Jun., 2017
Copyright © 2017
Ratnam et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Ratnam M.V.R., Lakshmana N., Nayyar A.S., Vamsi P.B., Upendra G., and Sashi Kiran S.V.N., 2017, Oral myiasis: a rare case report, International Journal
of Clinical Case Reports, 7(6): 23-27 (doi
Abstract
The condition myiasis was first described in 1840 by Hope FW. The term myiasis is derived from the Greek word myia
meaning fly and asis meaning disease. Herewith, we are reporting a case of oral myiasis wherein a 75 year old female patient with
abandoned life and of low socio-economic status presented to with a chief complaint of swelling in the upper lip and bleeding from
gums in the upper front tooth region due to worms since 4 days.
Keywords
Oral myiasis; Primary and secondary myiasis; Living and dead tissues
Background
The condition myiasis was first described in 1840 by Hope FW. The term myiasis is derived from the Greek word
myia meaning fly and asis meaning disease. Myiasis is caused by dipterous larvae that feed on the host living
and/or, dead tissues, liquid food substances and ingested food (Sharma et al., 2008). Maggots inhabit any organ
and tissues which are accessible to fly oviposition (Ribeiro et al., 2012). The larvae penetrate the tissues and cause
problems depending on the body site (Caissie et al., 2008). Apart from the skin, the nose, ears, eyes and sinuses
are the common sites of invasion whereas the mouth, uro-genital tract, throat and gastrointestinal tract are less
commonly affected sites (Caissie et al., 2008). Clinically, myiasis is classified as primary and secondary. Primary
myiasis is caused by biophagus larvae which feed on living tissue while secondary myiasis is caused by
necro-biophagus flies which feed on dead tissues. Secondary myiasis is more common and is seen in patients with
necrotic lesions (Shinohara et al., 2004; Koteswara and Prasad, 2010; Sheikh et al., 2011). Another classification
of myiasis categorizes it into the following types:
A) Accidental myiasis in which the larvae get ingested along with the food;
B) Semi-specific myiasis when the larvae lay on neurotic tissue of the wound;
C) Obligatory myiasis which requires living tissues for larvae development; and
D) Facultative myiasis which requires neurotic tissues for flies to lay eggs and incubate them (Caissie et al.,
2008).
Based on anatomic sites involved, myiasis is classified as:
A) Cutaneous myiasis;
B) Myiasis of external orifices; and
C) Myiasis of internal organs (Sheikh et al., 2011).
Oral myiasis was first described by Laurence in 1909 (Koteswara and Prasad, 2010). The conditions leading to
persistent mouth opening and poor oral hygiene, severe halitosis, facial trauma and supportive lesions may
predispose the patient to oral myiasis. Oral myiasis has been reported amongst epilepsy patients with lacerated lip
wounds following a seizure, secondary to medical and/or, anatomic conditions like cancrum oris (noma), cerebral
palsy, fractures, secondarily infected, open fractures with necrotic sloughs, incompetent lips and thumb sucking
