Medicine
-
Comparative Study
Toxocara canis myelitis: clinical features, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, and treatment outcome in 17 patients.
Toxocara myelitis is a rare disease. Few cases have been reported in the literature. Patients present with myelopathy, occasional eosinophilia in blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), with abnormal signals on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). ⋯ Treatment with albendazole, with or without steroids, resulted in marked neurologic improvement and normalization of the MRI in all patients. The finding of a single inflammatory MRI lesion in the spinal cord with positive Toxocara canis serology in the blood and CSF in cases of subacute or chronic myelitis suggests the diagnosis of Toxocara myelitis, irrespective of the presence of eosinophilia. Antihelminthic treatment is associated with a good outcome.