Teniaza

Taenia solium scolex

Cysticercosis
An adult African
man shows
numerous
subcutaneous
nodules of larval
Taenia solium
(Cysticercus
cellulosae).

Cysticercosis.
This radiograph
shows
soft-tissue
calcifications
resembling rice
grains,
which are
characteristic
of chronic
cysticercosis.
This patient was
a refugee
from Southeast

This x-ray reveals

cysticercosis of the
muscle due to the
presence of the
cestode Taenia
saginata, or beef
tapeworm. Humans
are the only
definitive hosts for
Taenia saginata and
Taenia solium.

A young male with a seizure. Magnetic

resonance imaging of the brain revealed a
ringlike lesion characteristic of
neurocysticercosis.

Cysticercosis on computed tomography scan

of brain (Taenia solium, pork tapeworm).

B. A CT scan of the
brain shows
multiple small
circular densities.
Within many of
these, a calcified
dot is present that
represents
calcification of the
scolex within the
cysticerci.

CT scans, demonstrating multiple nodular

lesions in the cerebral cortex in a 21 y-o
Japanese female, who complained of muscle
weakness in the right arm (left: plain, right:
enhanced).

Cerebral neurocysticercosis with diffuse,

scattered, ring-enhancing lesions throughout
the brain parenchyma with focal edema.

Parenchymal neurocysticercosis in a gross

brain specimen
The cysts of parenchymal neurocysticercosis
are typically observed at the gray-white
junction. The most common manifestation is
focal seizures.

Higher magnification of a parenchymal cyst in

neurocysticercosis
Death of the cysticerci, frequently precipitated
by effective therapy, results in release of larval
antigens which may stimulate an inflammatory
host response and exacerbate symptoms.

Neurocysticercosis
A. A gross section of
a human brain
shows three
pearllike cysticerci.
Such patients often
present with
seizures.

Cross section showing cysticercosis of

brain at autopsy.

Photomicrograph of a neurocysticercosis cyst

in the brain parenchyma

Multiple cysts of
racemose
neurocysticercosis
following their
removal from the
subarachnoid space

Typical antibody reactions in the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention immunoblot
for cysticercosis. Individual serum from
patients with either cysticercosis or
echinococcosis were analyzed using the
immunoblot for cysticercosis.