Spinal intramedullary cysticercosis with syringomyelia: a case report

Intramedullary cysticercosis of the cervical spine is extraordinarily rare; prior reports are limited to single cases. We review cases of intramedullary cysticercosis, and summarize the features and outcome. Herein, we report a 38 year old woman with progressive quadriplegia, paresthesia in bilateral upper limbs, neck pain and headache for 1 month. She had dyspnea for 1 week. A gross total resection was performed, and after the surgery, the patient was given prednisolone per day orally, for 2 weeks. Oral albendazole 400 mg/day was started 2 days after the start of prednisolone. Ag-ELISA was performed 2 months after the completion of treatment and no residual lesion was seen. At the 6-month postsurgical follow-up, no recurrence of the cysticercosis was noted. Cysticercosis of the cervical spine is extraordinarily rare. Preoperative identification of intramedullary cysticercosis is challenging, and the exact diagnosis depends on histopathological evidence and Ag-ELISA. With symptoms of the nervous system, surgical resection should be performed in time.