Overview
- The case, reported June 29, involved a 60-year-old man in Castellón whose initial CT scans showed multiple ring-enhancing lesions thought to be metastatic cancer but whose MRI and blood tests confirmed neurocysticercosis caused by Taenia solium larvae.
- Doctors found fluid-filled cysts on high-resolution MRI, some with visible parasite structures, and used antibody testing to confirm the pork tapeworm diagnosis, avoiding an unnecessary cancer biopsy.
- The patient received albendazole, praziquantel and corticosteroids to control inflammation and recovered without complications according to the published case report.
- Authors noted the patient had no travel to endemic regions and suggested possible local (autochthonous) transmission linked to close contact with migrant coworkers, but they said the transmission source could not be proven.
- Clinicians and public health experts say the case underscores that neurocysticercosis, a leading global cause of acquired seizures with an estimated 2.8 million annual infections worldwide, can appear in nonendemic settings and should remain in the differential diagnosis for multiple brain lesions to prevent unnecessary cancer workups.