Aim: To investigate the clinical manifestations and radiologic characteristics in diagnosing and treating hemorrhagic cerebral paragonimiasis.
Material and methods: The study retrospectively analyzed the data of three cases of hemorrhagic paragonimiasis who received treatment in the hospital from January 2014 to March 2017. All three patients were diagnosed with paragonimiasis by positive detection of paragonimiasis antibody. Based on the imaging data, the disease was confirmed as hemorrhagic cerebral paragonimiasis. One of the three patients was treated with oral praziquantel alone, one with praziquantel and thoracentesis, and one with praziquantel in combination with closed thoracic drainage and craniotomy.
Results: All the lesions disappeared after computed tomography scan during the follow-up. Two of the three patients had no dysneuria, and one had mild dysneuria.
Conclusion: Hemorrhagic cerebral paragonimiasis should be diagnosed as early as possible using antibodies against paragonimiasis for patients with unexplained intracerebral hemorrhage, especially young patients with atypical imaging findings and multiple systemic lesions. It is possible to avoid craniotomy and improve the cure rate by the early, full-dose, and sufficient course of anti-parasitic treatment.