Cerebral Sparganosis

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Abstract
A case of cerebral sparganosis is reported. A 40-year-old male with left hemihypesthesia of 3 years duration developed memory disturbance during the last 6 months. In March 1981, the patient experienced a generalized convulsive seizure and was admitted to hospital. Computerized tomography scan demonstrated an abnormal high-density area with minimal contrast enhancement in the right temporal lobe, suggesting a benign glioma. A temporoparietal craniotomy was performed, and a living white tapeworm of approximately 10 cm in length was found. The parasite thus removed from the brain as a Sparganum of Diphyllobothrium erinacei. Counter-current immunoelectrophoresis of the patient's serum supported the diagnosis. The granulomatous lesion caused by the parasite manifested Gaseous necrosis with Langhans giant cells and with small scattered calcified bodies and infiltrated cells. It was presumed that the cerebral involvement was related to the patient's habit of eating raw the meat of a local carp, Cryprinus caprio. Case reports of cerebral sparganosis are rare. Only 3 cases have been recorded in the literature. In two of them, a dead worm was detected at autopsy, while in the other and in the present case, a living worm was demonstrated at surgery.

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