Intramedullary spinal cysticercosis simulating a conus medullaris tumor: case report

Cysticercosis is an endemic condition in many developing countries. Although it is the most common parasitic disease of the central nervous system, cysticercal involvement of the spinal cord is rare. It may occur as intradural extramedullary, intramedullary, intramedullary associated with intradural...

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Main Authors: Guedes-Corrêa José Fernando, Macedo Ricardo Caratta, Vaitsman Rafael Pereira, Mattos Jorge Gomes de, Agra Jovita Marques
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thieme Revinter Publicações 2006-01-01
Series:Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2006000100033
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author Guedes-Corrêa José Fernando
Macedo Ricardo Caratta
Vaitsman Rafael Pereira
Mattos Jorge Gomes de
Agra Jovita Marques
author_facet Guedes-Corrêa José Fernando
Macedo Ricardo Caratta
Vaitsman Rafael Pereira
Mattos Jorge Gomes de
Agra Jovita Marques
author_sort Guedes-Corrêa José Fernando
collection DOAJ
description Cysticercosis is an endemic condition in many developing countries. Although it is the most common parasitic disease of the central nervous system, cysticercal involvement of the spinal cord is rare. It may occur as intradural extramedullary, intramedullary, intramedullary associated with intradural-extramedullary or as the vertebral presentation. We report the case of a 53-year-old woman who presented with low back pain of acute onset and no other symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an intramedullary cyst of the conus medullaris region which, at pathological examination, was diagnosed as a cysticercal cyst. She refused anticysticercal agents and steroids postoperatively. After an eight-year follow-up, the patient performs the activities of her daily living with no difficulties, and annual spinal MRIs show no residual signs of the disease. Clinical, pathofisiological, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of spinal cord intramedullary cysticercosis are discussed.
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issn 0004-282X
1678-4227
language English
publishDate 2006-01-01
publisher Thieme Revinter Publicações
record_format Article
series Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
spelling doaj-art-3e61b0fc06284817979d2f563bf63f0d2025-08-20T02:08:22ZengThieme Revinter PublicaçõesArquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria0004-282X1678-42272006-01-01641149152Intramedullary spinal cysticercosis simulating a conus medullaris tumor: case reportGuedes-Corrêa José FernandoMacedo Ricardo CarattaVaitsman Rafael PereiraMattos Jorge Gomes deAgra Jovita MarquesCysticercosis is an endemic condition in many developing countries. Although it is the most common parasitic disease of the central nervous system, cysticercal involvement of the spinal cord is rare. It may occur as intradural extramedullary, intramedullary, intramedullary associated with intradural-extramedullary or as the vertebral presentation. We report the case of a 53-year-old woman who presented with low back pain of acute onset and no other symptoms. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an intramedullary cyst of the conus medullaris region which, at pathological examination, was diagnosed as a cysticercal cyst. She refused anticysticercal agents and steroids postoperatively. After an eight-year follow-up, the patient performs the activities of her daily living with no difficulties, and annual spinal MRIs show no residual signs of the disease. Clinical, pathofisiological, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects of spinal cord intramedullary cysticercosis are discussed.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2006000100033conus medullariscysticercosisintramedullary cysticercosisspinal cord
spellingShingle Guedes-Corrêa José Fernando
Macedo Ricardo Caratta
Vaitsman Rafael Pereira
Mattos Jorge Gomes de
Agra Jovita Marques
Intramedullary spinal cysticercosis simulating a conus medullaris tumor: case report
Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria
conus medullaris
cysticercosis
intramedullary cysticercosis
spinal cord
title Intramedullary spinal cysticercosis simulating a conus medullaris tumor: case report
title_full Intramedullary spinal cysticercosis simulating a conus medullaris tumor: case report
title_fullStr Intramedullary spinal cysticercosis simulating a conus medullaris tumor: case report
title_full_unstemmed Intramedullary spinal cysticercosis simulating a conus medullaris tumor: case report
title_short Intramedullary spinal cysticercosis simulating a conus medullaris tumor: case report
title_sort intramedullary spinal cysticercosis simulating a conus medullaris tumor case report
topic conus medullaris
cysticercosis
intramedullary cysticercosis
spinal cord
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0004-282X2006000100033
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AT macedoricardocaratta intramedullaryspinalcysticercosissimulatingaconusmedullaristumorcasereport
AT vaitsmanrafaelpereira intramedullaryspinalcysticercosissimulatingaconusmedullaristumorcasereport
AT mattosjorgegomesde intramedullaryspinalcysticercosissimulatingaconusmedullaristumorcasereport
AT agrajovitamarques intramedullaryspinalcysticercosissimulatingaconusmedullaristumorcasereport