Isolated Intramedullary Lumbar Spine Neurocysticercosis: A Rare Occurrence and Review of Literature

Abstract

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the most common parasitic infection of the central nervous system. Spinal cysticercosis is a rather rare clinical occurrence. Intramedullary (IM) spinal NCC is rarer still. Furthermore, cases of IM-NCC at lumbar levels are few and far between. We present a case of a 35-year-old male patient who was diagnosed to have IM-NCC at L2-3 level and was managed surgically with no recurrence at 2 years of follow-up. A systematic literature review (1992–2020) highlights it to be only the third case reported with exclusive lumbar involvement

Keywords

• neurocysticercosis
• lumbar
• spine
• intramedullary
• rare