Spinal cord schistosomiasis

Acute myelopathy is increasingly being recognized as a common neurological complication of schistosomiasis. Schistosome eggs reach the spinal cord either as egg emboli or as eggs produced by ectopic worms. This leads to inflammatory reaction and granuloma formation around the eggs. Patients with spinal schistosomiasis may not have clinical evidence of schistosomiasis. The typical clinical picture is that of lumbar pain preceded by other symptoms by hours or up to 3 weeks. Patients may present with paraparesis, urinary retention or paraplegia. Definitive diagnosis of spinal cord schistosomiasis is by detection of the eggs in a spinal cord biopsy or at autopsy. However, most cases are diagnosed based on a presumptive diagnosis that depends on a suggestive clinical picture, history or evidence of active schistosomiasis and exclusion of other conditions. Investigations include stools and urine examination for schistosome eggs, blood tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and examination of the cerebrospinal fluid. Treatment of cases is mainly by praziquantel, corticosteroids, surgical intervention and rehabilitation.