title: Cervicomedullary neurocysticercosis causing obstructive hydrocephalus.
abstract: We present a 45-year-old man with tussive headache and blurred vision found to have obstructive hydrocephalus from a neurocysticercal cyst at the cervicomedullary junction who underwent surgical removal of the cyst. We performed a suboccipital craniectomy to remove the cervicomedullary cyst en bloc. Cyst removal successfully treated the patient's headaches without necessitating permanent cerebrospinal fluid diversion. Neurocysticercosis is the most common parasite infection of the central nervous system causing seizures and, less commonly, hydrocephalus. Intraventricular cysts or arachnoiditis usually cause hydrocephalus in neurocysticercosis but craniocervical junction cysts causing obstructive hydrocephalus are rare. Neurocysticercosis at the craniocervical junction may cause Chiari-like symptoms. In the absence of arachnoiditis and leptomeningeal enhancement, surgical removal of the intact cyst can lead to favorable outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, Room 779M, San Francisco, CA 94143-0112, USA. Electronic address: wangd@neurosurg.ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Doris D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, 505 Parnassus Avenue, Room 779M, San Francisco, CA 94143-0112, USA; San Francisco General Hospital, Brain and Spinal Injury Center, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D003560:Cysts / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020019:Neurocysticercosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery
keywords: Cervical medullary junction; Craniocervical junction; Foramen magnum; Hydrocephalus; Neurocysticercosis; Neurosurgery; Posterior fossa