ABSTRACT
Schistomiasis is a parasitic infestation that affects an estimated 200 to 300 million people worldwide. Spinal involvement is a rare complication of schistosoma mansoni or schistosoma hematobium infestation. The prevalence of spinal cord shistosomiasis in patients with systemic disease ranges from 0.3% to 13% in different published studies. The pathological findings of spinal shistosomiasis include a granulomatous intramedullary mass of the caudal spinal cord, radicular involvement with granulomatous changes surrounding the conus medullaris and cauda equina nerve roots, granulomatous necrosis and haemorrhage and asymptomatic deposition of ova in the spinal cord. Different imaging modalities have been employed for diagnosis of spinal schistosomiasis including conventional water-soluble contrast myelography, computed tomography [CT], CT myelography and magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]. In this study, we report imaging findings in 5 patients with shistosomal myelitis on CT myelography [1 case] and MRI [4 cases]. Three patients were operated upon and two patients had follow-up MRI after 6 months of antiparasitic therapy. We concluded that MRI should be the primary diagnostic modality employed in patients suspected to have shistosomal myelitis on a clinical and laboratory basis