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Difficulty in diagnosing a case with apparent sequel cerebral sparganosis.

Murata K, Abe T, Gohda M, Inoue R, Ishii K, Wakabayashi Y, Kamida T, Fujiki M, Kobayashi H, Takaoka H

Department of Neurosurgery, Oita University School of Medicine, Yufu, Oita 879-5593, Japan.

BACKGROUND: We report on a case of cerebral sparganosis that was correctly identified by a biopsy 10 years after the initial infection. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 62-year-old man presented with an unusual case of cerebral sparganosis mansoni. He was admitted to our hospital for removal of a right frontal meningioma. Computed tomographic scan and MRI of the brain showed atrophy of the left cerebral hemisphere, enlargement of the lateral ventricle, and several small ring-enhanced lesions in the left frontal lobe. The patient had suffered from motor aphasia and right hemiparesis for 10 years; in addition, he had been treated for cerebral infarction. We performed a left frontal biopsy, during which we also removed the meningioma. The histologic diagnosis was cerebral sparganosis mansoni. CONCLUSIONS: The follow-up CT findings after the patient's first attack were thought to be characteristic of cerebral sparganosis mansoni. However, the radiographic findings were difficult to differentiate from those of neoplasias.

Published 12 March 2007 in Surg Neurol, 67(4): 409-11; discussion 412.
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