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Li et al. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2017;4:238-42 Neuroimmunology and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-8659.2017.16
Neuroinflammation

www.nnjournal.net
Case Report Open Access

Sparganosis of the brain: a case report and

brief review

Hai-Xia Li , Shi-Hai Luan , Wei Guo , Ling-Yang Hua , Hong-Da Zhu , Jiao-Jiao Deng , Hai-Liang Tang ,
2*
1*
2
2
2
3
2
Xian-Cheng Chen , Qing Xie , Ye Gong 2,4
2
2
1 Department of Pathology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China.
2 Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China.
3 Department of Neurosurgery, The Third People’s Hospital of Shijiazhuang, Shijiazhuang 050011, Hebei, China.
4 Department of Critical Medicine, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200040, China.
*Authors contributed equally to this manuscript.
Correspondence to: Dr. Ye Gong, Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, #12 Middle
Wulumuqi Road, Jingan District, Shanghai 200040, China. E-mail: drgongye@163.com
How to cite this article: Li HX, Luan SH, Guo W, Hua LY, Zhu HD, Deng JJ, Tang HL, Chen XC, Xie Q, Gong Y. Sparganosis of the brain: a case
report and brief review. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2017;4:238-42.
ABSTRACT
Article history: Human sparganosis is a rare disease often affecting muscle, subcutaneous tissue and other
Received: 22 Mar 2017 locations, but sparganosis invading the brain is rather rare. Cerebral sparganosis has no
First Decision: 10 Apr 2017 specific symptoms which makes the diagnosis quite difficult and is usually neglected in the
Revised: 19 Jun 2017 clinic. Here the authors reported a case of a 29-year-old female who was diagnosed with
Accepted: 20 Jun 2017 cerebral sparganosis and underwent surgery in their department and a brief review of the
Published: 20 Nov 2017 literature was conducted as well.
Key words:
Cerebral sparganosis,
clinical pathological,
epidemiology

INTRODUCTION untreated water containing spirometra larvae,
consumption of undercooked frog or snake meat,
Human sparganosis is a rare but increasing emerging or using raw flesh on open wounds as traditional
food borne zoonosis caused by the plerocercoid poultices [3-7] . Sporadic human sparganosis has been
larvae. The genus spirometra constitutes several documented worldwide, but the prevalence is higher
species including S mansonoides, one of the most in Asia countries, especially in China, Thailand, Japan
commonly reported human sparganosis infections and South Korea [3,5,8,9] . The most common target places
[1]
in Asia . The lifecycle of spirometra starts with adult in humans for spirometra are subcutaneous tissue
worms living in the intestines of dogs and cats and or muscle [10] , cerebral sparganosis is relatively rare
[11]
eggs shed in faeces in the environment, while frogs but represents the most severe type , characterized
and snakes usually serve as second intermediate by symptoms like seizures and the wandering sign
hosts . Humans are mainly infected through drinking in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning [12] .
[2]
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