title: Intradural extramedullary cysticercal abscess of spine.
abstract: Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is one of the most common parasitic diseases affecting the central nervous system. Typically spinal NCC involvement has a concomitant cranial involvement. Spinal involvement by NCC, either intramedullary or extramedullary is very uncommon. The authors report a case of D12-L1 intradural extramedullary lesion in a 38-year-old female patient who presented with complaints of back pain and weakness of lower limbs. She underwent laminectomy and excision of the lesion. Histopathology revealed extramedullary cysticercal abscess. Post-operatively she was treated with albendazole. She had a successful recovery post-operatively and at 8 months follow up had no neurological deficits. This current case presents a very rare case of cysticercal abscess of dorsolumbar spine, without any evidence of cranial involvement. This report is to reemphasize the importance of including NCC as a differential diagnosis in intradural extramedullary lesion at the conus level in endemic areas like India.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Dr. A. Lakshmipathi Neurosurgical Centre, VHS Hospital, Chennai, India.
authors.forename: Ravindranath
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kapu
authors.forename: Manish Kumar
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pande
authors.forename: Matabushi Chakravarthy
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Vasudevan
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramamurthi
keywords: Conuslesion; intradural extramedullary lesion; neurocysticercal abscess; spine; surgical excision