MENINGO-ENCEPHALITIS CAUSED BY CYSTICERCUS CELLULOSAE

Abstract

Cysticerci, the larvae of several intestinal tapeworms, are frequently encountered in internal organs, chiefly in the muscles, of various domestic and wild animals. In man the most frequent sites are the eye, the brain and the skin. The cysticercus affecting the eye and other organs of man is usually Cysticercus cellulosae, the larva of Taenia solium, the porcine tapeworm, but several cases of infection with Cysticercus bovis, the larva of Taenia saginata, the bovine tapeworm, are known (von Herrenschwand¹and Fontan²). The cysticercus found in the brain is apparently always Cysticercus cellulosae. Although second in frequency (Vosgien³), cysticercosis of the brain is the most important form of infestation because of the gravity of the prognosis. Clinical diagnosis is difficult because of the lack of a characteristic clinical picture and because of the variability of the seat of the lesion and its frequently disseminated character. Diagnosis is therefore