A case of the unusual clinical condition of cerebral coenurosis, the unique parasitic disease that is localized only in the CNS, is reported. The patient had repeated attacks of transient hemiparesis due to intracranial arteritis which was demonstrated by several angiographic studies. The CSF showed a discreet lymphocytosis and increased immunoglobulins. This inflammatory reaction which preceeded the manifestations of the intracranial mass can be explained by the parasitic foreign bodies, the liberation of somatic and metabolic parasitic toxins and the immunological reaction of the organism. The arteritis of the basal intracranial vessels was probably secondary to the inflammatory reaction of the leptomeninges. In presence of the rare association of meningovascular disease and an expanding intracranial lesion a parasitic condition due to a larval stage of Cestodes (Hydatidosis, Cysticercosis, Coenurosis) should be always considered.

The University of Lausanne was founded in 1537. The faculty of medicine was created in 1890, and the service of surgery was directed by César Roux. Roux, a well-known surgeon, was visited by Harvey Cushing during 1900-1901. In the early 1930s, Jean Rossier from Lausanne trained with Cushing, but Rossier passed away in 1942. Eric Zander created the division of neurosurgery in 1959; it became an independent service in 1967. Nicolas de Tribolet served as chairman from 1984 until 1994, when he was asked to take charge of the merger of the university services of Geneva and Lausanne. In October 1997, Jean-Guy Villemure joined him in the newly merged department, becoming chairman in Lausanne, while de Tribolet is chairman in Geneva and head of the department comprising both services.