Sparganosis of brain and spinal cord: Unusual tapeworm infestation (report of two cases)

Among the diseases due to cerebral parasitism, those caused by sparganum mansoni, the larval form of Spirometra mansoni, are very rare. We report two cases, one involving the frontoparietal area in a 38-year-old male and presenting as a mass lesion and another in a 10-year-old girl, presenting with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical neurology and neurosurgery 1998-06, Vol.100 (2), p.148-152
Main Authors: Kudesia, S, Indira, Devi B, Sarala, Das, Vani, Santosh, Yasha, T.C, Jayakumar, P.N, Shankar, S.K
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Animals
Biological and medical sciences
Brain Diseases - diagnosis
Brain Diseases - parasitology
Brain Diseases - surgery
Child
Computer tomography
Diseases caused by cestodes
Female
Helminthic diseases
Humans
Immunologic Tests
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical sciences
Parasite
Parasitic diseases
Sparganosis
Sparganosis - diagnosis
Sparganosis - pathology
Sparganosis - surgery
Sparganosis of the nervous system
Spinal Cord Diseases - diagnosis
Spinal Cord Diseases - parasitology
Spinal Cord Diseases - surgery
Spirometra - isolation & purification
Spirometra - pathogenicity
Spirometra mansoni
Surgical excision
Tomography, X-Ray
Tropical medicine
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Summary:Among the diseases due to cerebral parasitism, those caused by sparganum mansoni, the larval form of Spirometra mansoni, are very rare. We report two cases, one involving the frontoparietal area in a 38-year-old male and presenting as a mass lesion and another in a 10-year-old girl, presenting with paraparesis due to mid-thoracic compressive mass lesion. Pathological examination of the resected lesion revealed the characteristic plerocercoid larva, spargana, enclosed in acute inflammatory exudate, resembling an abscess. Postoperative recovery was good, suggesting that the best treatment for cerebral or spinal sparganosis mansoni is surgical excision. Serological tests for diagnosis were not carried out in these cases, since parasitic infection was not suspected. Although generally the role of immunodiagnosis is limited due to rarity of the condition, in endemic areas such tests may be useful in preoperative diagnosis.
ISSN:0303-8467
1872-6968
DOI:10.1016/S0303-8467(98)00027-4