[Cysticercosis of the brain (author's transl)]

Two cases of cysticercosis of the brain with multilocular parasite infestation are reported. Case 1 showed temporal lobe epilepsy with corresponding EEG and parkinsonism. Pathomorphologically there were parasites in the sylvian fossa and a bilateral necrosis of the pallidum. In case 2 there was a cranial nerve deficit (n.vestibulo-cochlearis) with pronounced vestibular ataxia. Parasite vesicles were surgically removed from the cerebello-pontine angle. Neurohistologically, chronic inflammatory changes were present in the immediate vicinity of the parasite. In both cases there was cysticercosis of the rhomboid fossa and base of the brain (leptomeningitis) with evidence of a process of the posterior cranial fossa. Psychic changes (hysteriform behavioral abnormalities, psychotic episodes and, increasingly, an organic psychosyndrome) were observed particularly in case 1. This case was followed for 11 years on the basis of documented and personal investigations. This report discusses the differential diagnosis and therapy of brain cysticercosis with reference to the two cases and the literature.