Cerebral Paragonimiasis.

The first case of cerebral paragonimiasis was reported by Otani in Japan in 1887. This was nine years after Kerbert's discovery of the fluke in the lungs of Bengal tigers and seven years after a human pulmonary infection by the fluke was demonstrated by Baelz and Manson. The first case was a 26-year-old man who had been suffering from cough and hemosputum for one year. The patient developed convulsive seizures with subsequent coma and died. The postmortem examination showed cystic lesions in the right frontal and occipital lobes. An adult fluke was found in the occipital lesion and another was seen in a gross specimen of normal brain tissue around the affected occipital lobe. Two years after Otani's discovery, at autopsy a 29-year-old man with a history of Jacksonian seizure was reported as having cerebral paragonimiasis. Some time later, however, it was confirmed that the case was actually cerebral schistosomiasis japonica. Subsequently, cases of cerebral paragonimiasis were reported. However, the majority of these cases were not confirmed histologically. It was pointed out that some of these early cases were probably not Paragonimus infection. After World War II, reviews as well as case reports were published. Recently, investigations have been reported from Korea, with a clinicla study on 62 cases of cerebral paragonimiasis seen at the Neurology Department of the National Medical Center, Seoul, between 1958 and 1964. In 1971 Higashi described a statistical study on 105 cases of cerebral paragonimiasis that had been treated surgically in Japan.