Spinal cord compression and bilateral sensory neural hearing loss: an unusual manifestation of neurocysticercosis.

Neurocysticercosis is the most common parasitic infestation involving the central nervous system in tropical countries. Common presentations are seizure, meningitis and increased intracranial pressure. The authors report a case of a 52-year-old woman with racemose neurocysticercosis in the subarachnoid space at the cistern of the brain through the lumbar cistern. She presented with progressive paraparesis due to spinal cord compression and finally had progressive bilateral sensori-neural hearing loss. MRI brain and the whole spinal cord revealed numerous rim-enhancing cystic lesions at the basal cistern, prepontine cistern, bilateral cerebellopontine angle, internal acoustic canals, intramedullary lesion at the 5th cervical spinal level, lumbar cistern lesions and secondary syringomyelia at the thoracic spinal cord. The histopathologic examination confirmed cysticercosis. After treatment by albendazole and surgical removal, she still developed recurrent spinal compression at a higher level and obstructive hydrocephalus. Finally, she died from status epilepticus and septic shock.

Intradural extramedullary hydatid cyst: report of four cases

Progressive myelopathy was noted in three and an incomplete cauda equina syndrome in a fourth patient with intradural extramedullary hydatid cysts. In three patients the presence of medullary cysts were thought to be "de novo", but in one was a consequence of an intra-operatively ruptured cerebral cyst two years previously. Surgical exploration was modestly successful in relieving the symptoms. In at least three patients there was involvement of lung and liver with multiple cysts

Breve comentário sobre a patogenia da cisticercose espinhal / Brief comments on the pathogenesis of spinal cysticercosis

A hipótese de que embriöes cisticereóticos possam alcançar os espaços subaracnóideos espinhais por migraçäo descendente a partir de espaços intraxcranianos previamente infestados näo é compatível ao acometimento leptomeningeo espinhal primário, que observamos em duas pacientes. É sugerido que nesses casos os embriöes invadem o sistema nervoso central através do fluxo sangüíneo retrógrado pelo plexo venoso vertebral interno e veias intervertebrais, e que o compartimento intracraniano do líqüido cefalorraqueano possa ser secundariamente invadido pelos cisticercos

Cistero solitário intramedular: relato de caso e revisäo da literatura / Solitary intramedulary cysticercus: case report and review literature

Um caso de cisticercose intramedular cervical provocando tetraparesia espática é relatado. A remoçäo cirúrgica de uma vesícula cisticercótica solitária, medindo 3.0 cm de comprimento por 1.5 cm de diâmetro resultou em recuperaçäo completa do paciente. Somente 26 casos dessa rara entidade foram encontrados na revisäo da literatura. Os aspectos patogênicos relacionados a essa localizaçäo incomum säo discutidos