Doctors suspected man had brain cancer. He had worms
72 points by Bender
by btach
0 subcomment
Saw something like this in one ER I worked at years ago. Guy in his 50's was brought in for seizures. Don't remember exactly where he came from, but it was some place where tapeworms from pigs was not unheard of. CT of head showed numerous cysts in his brain. I remember seeing the spots in his head being a bit smaller than in the imagery in the article and more spread out. Anyway he was diagnosed with neurocysticercosis and admitted. No idea what happened after, often I didn't get follow-up in the ER setting. Anyway, that... was memorable. Never ate undercooked pork before that, but after... never ever will.
by woadwarrior01
2 subcomments
This is a big fear of mine. I have a course of albendazole once every year just for this. It is de facto over the counter in India. I bought enough to last 4 years, the last time I was there.
by sva_
6 subcomments
> The finding surprised the doctors since tapeworms aren’t endemic to Spain and he said he hadn’t traveled. However, the man may have been exposed during his work. Until 10-years prior, when he retired, he had worked in construction, often working alongside people who had migrated from regions where pork tapeworms (Taenia solium) are endemic. The parasitic worms can spread through the fecal-oral route. His doctors speculated his infection might have been a rare case of cryptic transmission from sharing meals and bathrooms with his coworkers, one of whom apparently had a tapeworm infection.
yikes
by ramon156
1 subcomments
But actually, it was lupus
by thelastgallon
1 subcomments
Sounds like a Dr. House episode.
by mhb
1 subcomments
Why did they use CT before MRI?
by retinaros
2 subcomments
if the worms are in the brain the man is likely not fine and won't ever be like before
by tamimio
1 subcomments
Ok, and what happened to the man after? Did they remove it? Was he ok and back to normal or forever damaged?
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