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Updated: Oct 8, 2025
3-D Imaging and Analysis of Neurons Infected In Vivo with Toxoplasma gondii
Published on: December 9, 2014
Intramedullary parasite eggs, latent for three decades, mimicking acute transverse myelitis
Hyo-Jeong Kim1, Se-Hoon Kim1, Hoi-Seon Jeong2
1Department of Neurosurgery, Ansan Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, 123 Jeokgeum-ro, Danwon-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, 15355, Republic of Korea.
Background:
Intramedullary parasitic infection is extremely uncommon, and clinical presentation of Brown-Sequard syndrome is even rarer.
Case Presentation:
The authors report a case involving a 57-year-old woman with Brown-Sequard syndrome, in whom magnetic resonance imaging and clinical and epidemiological features were similar to those of acute transverse myelitis. Myelotomy suggested inflammation caused by latent parasite eggs in the spinal cord. Antiparasitic and steroid therapies were administered postoperatively. To the author's knowledge, this is the first report to describe a surgical experience for Taenia solium eggs in the spinal cord.
Conclusion:
Intramedullary parasitic infection is a diagnostic challenge that requires careful discrimination from other diseases. If parasite infection is suspected in a progressively deteriorating patient, myelotomy should be considered for rapid and accurate treatment.
