Angiostrongylus cantonensis infection mimicking a spinal cord tumor

Ann Neurol. 2002 Jul;52(1):99-101. doi: 10.1002/ana.10215.

Abstract

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the most common cause of eosinophilic meningitis and meningoencephalitis. Almost all cases are self-limiting and are diagnosed by cerebrospinal fluid eosinophilia and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; pathology reports are restricted to postmortem samples from lethal cases. We report on what we believe is the first case of A. cantonensis infection diagnosed by biopsy in a living patient. The spinal cord was biopsied because of the unusual clinical presentation of a myelopathy without meningeal symptoms, together with a mass lesion that was clinically and radiologically diagnosed as a spinal cord tumor.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Angiostrongylus cantonensis / isolation & purification*
  • Animals
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Spinal Cord Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Spinal Cord Neoplasms / pathology
  • Spinal Cord Neoplasms / surgery
  • Strongylida Infections / diagnosis*
  • Strongylida Infections / pathology
  • Thailand