Thoracic imaging findings in a case of disseminated cysticercosis

In Latin America, an estimated 75 million people are at risk of NCC, 400 000 of whom are symptomatic. [...]symptomatic patients may represent only the proverbial tip of the iceberg. 3 Clinical symptoms are minimal or absent in patients with parasite infestation outside the central nervous system. Seizures usually respond well to first-line antiepileptic drugs. 1 Identification of the scolex on CT or MRI in a cystic lesion is considered an absolute criterion for diagnosis of cysticercosis. 7 A CT chest scan usually reveals the non-specific appearance of multiple small nodules in random distribution in bilateral lungs, which need to be differentiated from fungal, tubercular and metastatic causes. 6 However, in a patient from an endemic region, with concomitant lesions with scolex in the chest wall, subcutaneous tissues, cardiac muscles, lungs, brain and orbits, disseminated cysticercosis should be considered the primary diagnosis.