Cerebral sparganosis: a diagnostic challenge

Abstract

Cerebral sparganosis is a rare cestode larval parasitic infestation of the nervous system. We report a 28-year-old female from South India with a temporo-occipital mass lesion, which mimicked a tuberculoma on imaging. She received antituberculous therapy for 7 months. Surgical excision of the mass revealed a parasitic abscess containing larval form of Sparganum mansoni. Cerebral sparganosis can closely mimic tuberculoma or neoplastic lesions. Hence, in areas endemic for tuberculosis, such as India, it is appropriate to suggest that histological diagnosis be sought in tuberculoma mimicking lesions, especially when the lesion is not responding to treatment.

Migration: A Notable Feature of Cerebral Sparganosis on Follow-Up MR Imaging

“…8 A definite diagnosis of cerebral sparganosis is challenging due to its nonspecific clinical manifestation. Previously, it was often misdiagnosed as a neoplasm, 9 infarct, 10 tuberculoma, 11 or other diseases. With the availability of high-resolution CT and MR imaging, the ELISA test for parasitic antibodies, and stereotactic biopsy, more cases of sparganosis are being diagnosed currently.…”

Esparganosis cerebral. Presentación de un caso pediátrico

“…3,12 El reconocimiento de la migración de la lesión en la secuencia de exámenes de imágenes indica la presencia de una larva viva. 14,15 Es difícil confirmar la enfermedad en la etapa preoperatoria, y en algunas circunstancias se plantea el diagnóstico diferencial con tuberculosis o neoplasia.…”

“…En Sudamérica, la especie más frecuente es S. mansonoides. Si bien la localización más común es la cutánea, en las últimas décadas se han notificado casos de esparganosis extracutánea en China, 2 India, 3 América del Norte, 4 Europa 5 y Latinoamérica. [6][7][8][9][10] Esta situación es atribuible al uso de la tomografía computarizada (TC), la resonancia magnética (RM) y los métodos serológicos especí-ficos (ELISA).…”

Sparganosis of the brain: a case report and brief review

“…Sporadic human sparganosis has been documented worldwide, but the prevalence is higher in Asia countries, especially in China, Thailand, Japan and South Korea [3,5,8,9] . The most common target places in humans for spirometra are subcutaneous tissue or muscle [10] , cerebral sparganosis is relatively rare but represents the most severe type [11] , characterized by symptoms like seizures and the wandering sign in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning [12] .…”