Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 29, 2025
Author Spotlight: Studying Clinical Characters and Epilepsy Outcomes After Frontal Disconnection in Patients with MOGHE
Published on: August 16, 2024
Cerebral sparganosis in a child with corpus callosum invasion: a case report
Xiwen Chen1, Huiying Wu1, Lianwei Lu1
1Department of Radiology, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Centre, Guangzhou, China.
Insights
Cerebral sparganosis is rare in children and can migrate within the brain. Early MRI monitoring is crucial for detecting its spread and guiding treatment for this parasitic infection.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Infectious Diseases
- Parasitology
Background:
- Cerebral sparganosis, a parasitic infection, rarely affects the corpus callosum in pediatric patients.
- Sparganosis invasion of the corpus callosum can lead to ventricular entry and secondary brain injury.
Observation:
- A pediatric case presented with hemiparesis, eosinophilia, and positive serology for sparganosis.
- Initial MRI revealed corpus callosum and cortical lesions; follow-up MRI demonstrated lesion spread and ventricular involvement.
Findings:
- The migratory nature of cerebral sparganosis is highlighted by its spread within the brain.
- Ependymal breach and ventricular invasion by sparganosis can cause significant secondary brain damage.
Implications:
- Clinicians must consider sparganosis in pediatric cases with neurological deficits and eosinophilia.
- Short-term serial MRI is essential for monitoring sparganosis migration and informing therapeutic strategies.
Background:
Invasion of the corpus callosum by sparganosis is rare in children. After invading the corpus callosum, sparganosis has various migration modes, which can break through the ependyma and enter the ventricles, thus causing secondary migratory brain injury.
Case Presentation:
A girl aged 4 years and 7 months presented with left lower limb paralysis for more than 50 days. Blood examination showed that the proportion and absolute number of eosinophils in the peripheral blood were increased. Furthermore, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples revealed positivity for IgG and IgM antibodies for sparganosis. Initial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed ring-like enhancements in the right frontoparietal cortex, subcortical white matter, and splenium of the corpus callosum. Within 2 months, a fourth follow-up MRI showed that the lesion had spread to the left parietal cortex, subcortical white matter, and deep white matter in the right occipital lobe and right ventricular choroid plexus, with left parietal leptomeningeal enhancement.
Conclusion:
Migratory movement is one of the characteristics of cerebral sparganosis. When sparganosis invades the corpus callosum, clinicians should be aware that it may then break through the ependyma and enter the lateral ventricles, leading to secondary migratory brain injury. Short-term follow-up MRI is necessary to evaluate the migration mode of sparganosis and dynamically guide treatment strategies.
