Intramedullary parasite eggs, latent for three decades, mimicking acute transverse myelitis

BMC Infectious Diseases

Hyo-jeong Kim¹  Se-Hoon Kim¹  Bum-Joon Kim¹  Hoi-seon Jeong² 

[1] Department of Neurosurgery, Ansan Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, 123 Jeokgeum-ro, Danwon-gu, 15355, Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea;Department of Pathology, Ansan Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Ansan, Republic of Korea;

关键词: Central nervous system parasitic infections;    Parasite eggs;    Neurocysticercosis;    Brown-Sequard syndrome;    Spinal cord neoplasm;    Acute transverse myelitis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12879-021-07013-7

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIntramedullary parasitic infection is extremely uncommon, and clinical presentation of Brown-Sequard syndrome is even rarer.Case presentationThe authors report a case involving a 57-year-old woman with Brown-Sequard syndrome, in whom magnetic resonance imaging and clinical and epidemiological features were similar to those of acute transverse myelitis. Myelotomy suggested inflammation caused by latent parasite eggs in the spinal cord. Antiparasitic and steroid therapies were administered postoperatively. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first report to describe a surgical experience for Taenia solium eggs in the spinal cord.ConclusionIntramedullary parasitic infection is a diagnostic challenge that requires careful discrimination from other diseases. If parasite infection is suspected in a progressively deteriorating patient, myelotomy should be considered for rapid and accurate treatment.

【 授权许可】

CC BY