Case reportNew insights in diagnosing Schistosoma myelopathy
Section snippets
Case description
A 35 year-old male presented to the emergency department with progressive pain and muscle weakness in the upper legs. His past medical history was unremarkable except from a Human Papilloma Virus infection for which he had been treated. The patient was originally from Brazil, but he had lived in the Netherlands for seven years. In his youth, he frequently sailed at a lake near São Paulo. Two months prior to presentation, he suffered from diarrhea during a visit to Brazil. The pain in his legs
Discussion
Schistosomiasis is a tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms of the genus Schistosoma. Infection occurs by skin penetration during contact with contaminated fresh-water, after which adult worms develop in the blood vessels surrounding the gut or bladder (see1 for details). Female worms produce hundreds of eggs per day, most of which are excreted in the faeces or urine but some get trapped in host tissues. Schistosoma myelopathy (SM) refers to neurological symptoms caused by an
Acknowledgements
R. Koelewijn is thanked for expert serological analysis for Schistosoma and A.G.M. Tielens is thanked for critical reading of the manuscript. None of the authors received financial support related to this paper, and therefore, no conflict of interest exists.
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Nested polymerase chain reaction in cerebrospinal fluid for diagnosing spinal cord schistosomiasis: A promising method
2016, Journal of the Neurological SciencesCitation Excerpt :Since Pernambuco state is an endemic area for Schistosoma mansoni, the detection of circulating antibodies was not emphasized in the present study. Although diagnostic methods have been developed for schistosomiasis using antibodies against Schistosoma antigens, they exhibit low sensitivity and specificity, do not allow the discrimination of present and past infection and can be false-positive due to cross reactivity with other parasites [12,13]. As a result, new diagnostic tools were needed.
Spinal Cord Infections
2013, Neurologic ClinicsNeuroschistosomiasis: Clinical symptoms and pathogenesis
2011, The Lancet NeurologyCitation Excerpt :However, these immunoassays need validation before their widespread use. An index based on the ratio between CSF and serum concentrations of antibodies against egg and worm antigens was developed to distinguish SCS from other spinal cord disorders in patients with systemic schistosomiasis,77 but it needs further investigation. Laminectomy with biopsy of the nervous tissue is the only method that gives a definite diagnosis of SCS.
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