The diagnosis and treatment introspection of the first imported case of atypical cerebral schistosomiasis in Guangzhou city

Overview ObjectiveA rare case of cerebral schistosomiasis is reported from Guangzhou, which is a non-endemic region. Case reportA 70-year-old female with a half-month history of schistosomiasis presented to a nonendemic region for treatment.Brain computed tomography (CT) and MRI revealed a lesion in the left occipital lobe; other clinical testing was not remarkable.The diagnosis was an intracranial occupying lesion in the left occipital lobe.After the removal of the brain lesion via cranial surgery, it was noticed that the woman came from an endemic region of schistosomiasis.The discovery of eggs in the brain lesion and a positive ELISA result led to a final diagnosis of cerebral schistosomiasis. ConclusionAlthough studies on the treatment of cerebral schistosomiasis exist, few reports have focused on the diagnosis of this illness in nonendemic settings.In this case, the exposure history of the patient was not taken into account at the beginning of treatment.This experience indicates the need for physicians to consider disease epidemiology in relation to patient history before conducting clinical interventions.