Spinal intramedullary cysticercosis in a five-year-old child: case report and review of the literature.
Spinal intramedullary cysticercosis is rare and usually afflicts adults. We report the case of a 5-year-old Mexican girl with back pain who had a complex thoracic spinal intramedullary mass on magnetic resonance imaging and a positive immunoblot for Taenia solium. Surgery revealed a cystic mass containing a cysticercus. Cysticercosis should be suspected as the cause of an intramedullary spinal mass in a patient from an endemic area.
Homans
J
J
Department of Pediatrics, Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. homans@hsc.usc.edu
Khoo
L
L
Chen
T
T
Commins
D L
DL
Ahmed
J
J
Kovacs
A
A
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005682:Gadolinium; D006801:Humans; D007796:Laminectomy; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000008:administration & dosage; D020019:Neurocysticercosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000469:parasitology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D008795:Metronidazole; D005682:Gadolinium