A number of parasitic infections can involve the central nervous system of which neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the most common one in developing countries. Most often the brain is involved, spine and spinal cord involvement is very rare and intramedullary involvement is rarer still. Here, we report a 30-year-old male patient, with intramedullary NCC of dorsal spinal cord.

Aims:After initial primary repair by inexperienced hands for the spectrum of pathological conditions in spinal dysraphism (SD), a few percentage of patients present with recurrent symptoms and worsening neurological status especially when primarily pathology is not identified and dealt properly. When the primary intradural tethering element is left untouched, worsening of symptoms is common. In this retrospective study, we tried to analyze the symptomatology, functional outcome at 1–2 months after the second surgery and associated complications.Subjects and Methods:All patients underwent second surgery at author's institution. Pre and post-operative data were evaluated using Necker –Enfants Malades (NEM) neurological and modified Hoffer ambulatory scale.Results:The main presenting complaints were bladder incontinence and limb weakness. Preoperative mean scores for motor and bladder were 3.56 and 2.78 out of 5, 2.67 out of 4, and 2.11 out of 3 for bowel and sensory function, respectively. Postoperative mean score for motor, sensory, bladder, and bowel function revealed good neurological improvement. Statistically neurological improvement in bladder and bowel function was significant. More than 60% of patients had normal ambulation at follow-up.Conclusions:Patients presenting with recurrent symptoms in an operated case of SD need to be investigated, cause of recurrence has to be identified, and if needed repeat surgery is recommended at the earliest. Long-standing neurological deficits can potentially improve, especially bladder and bowel function which gives a good quality of life to the patients. Furthermore, we want to stress the fact that since it is an intradural pathology, these cases should be operated by experienced neurosurgeons, and this fact should be made aware among referring doctors.

Intracranial schwannomas are slow-growing benign nerve sheath tumors arising from the vestibular portion of the VIIIth cranial nerve and less commonly from Vth, VIIth, and lower cranial nerves. However, as optic nerve and olfactory nerve do not contain Schwann cell layer, occurrence of schwannoma is questionable in these cranial nerves. Schwannomas are usually large solid lesions, only relatively small percentage exhibit calcification, and cystic patterns with intracystic fluid levels. In this short illustration, we try to review the possible pathogenesis and management paradigm of these cystic intracranial schwannomas depending upon their location with a report of cystic olfactory groove schwannoma in a 35-year-old female patient.