IPLab:Lab 11:Cysticercosis

Contents

Clinical SummaryEdit

This 29-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital because of repeated tonic-clonic seizures. The patient was a tour guide leading groups of tourist to Tibet for two-month walking/camping tours in the Himalayas. Her seizures were easily controlled by intravenous administration of phenytoin. The WBC count was 13,000, with 5% eosinophils and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate was slightly elevated. A cranial CT performed with and without contrast revealed two ring-enhancing lesions. The patient underwent a craniotomy and excisional biopsy.

ImagesEdit

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  This is a head CT showing the two cysts (arrows).

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  This is a photograph of the cyst that was surgically removed. The cyst is filled with a clear fluid and contains a scolex.

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  This photograph of an autopsy specimen from another patient shows an adult tapeworm in the intestine. Note that the worm attaches to the luminal surface of the intestine via the scolex.

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  This is a photograph of the body of an adult tapeworm. Note the body segments.

Study QuestionsEdit

• How did this patient get this parasite?

Cysticercosis is caused by the cestode parasite, Taenia solium (pig tapeworm). Cysticercosis is contracted by ingesting eggs from the feces of a person infected with an adult Taenia solium. The eggs can survive for several weeks in soil but are also infectious as soon as passed. The larvae migrate through the intestinal wall and are disseminated via the blood stream and can encyst in the brain, heart, skeletal muscle, or skin.

Additional ResourcesEdit

ReferenceEdit

• eMedicine Medical Library: Cysticercosis
• eMedicine Medical Library: Cysticercosis in Emergency Medicine
• Merck Manual: Taeniasis Solium and Cysticercosis

Journal ArticlesEdit

• Garcia HH, Del Brutto OH. Taenia solium cysticercosis. Infect Dis Clin North Am 2000 Mar;14(1):97-119, ix.

ImagesEdit

• PEIR Digital Library: Cysticercosis Images