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MRI Reveals Brain Tapeworm, Not Cancer, in Spanish Man

6/27/2026

Summary

Story summary

MRI showed encapsulated tapeworm larvae with visible scolexes, overturning an initial suspicion of metastatic cancer.
Doctors diagnosed a 60-year-old Spanish man with cerebral Taenia solium infection after imaging ruled out cancer.
Blood tests revealed elevated IgE, indicating an immune response consistent with a parasitic infection.
Whole-body CT, colonoscopy and PET/CT scans found no malignancies.
Doctors suspect the patient acquired the tapeworm through fecal-oral exposure from construction coworkers from endemic regions.

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Story summary

MRI showed encapsulated tapeworm larvae with visible scolexes, overturning an initial suspicion of metastatic cancer.
Doctors diagnosed a 60-year-old Spanish man with cerebral Taenia solium infection after imaging ruled out cancer.
Blood tests revealed elevated IgE, indicating an immune response consistent with a parasitic infection.
Whole-body CT, colonoscopy and PET/CT scans found no malignancies.
Doctors suspect the patient acquired the tapeworm through fecal-oral exposure from construction coworkers from endemic regions.