Cerebral toxocariasis – case report

Aim: To present a case of a patient with an atypical clinical course of toxocariasis, which was manifested by isolated affection of the central nervous system. Case report: A 55-year-old patient was hospitalized at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases of the University Hospital Center Rijeka due to cerebral toxocariasis, which was initially presented as aneosinophilic aseptic meningitis. Since the clinical course of the disease did not initially indicate a parasitic infection, the diagnosis was established after repeated cytological-biochemical and serological analyzes of the cerebrospinal fluid and serum. Conclusions: Cerebral toxocariasis is a rare disease and can also present as severe meningitis, encephalitis, or myelitis. This case report of a patient with proven cerebral toxocariasis initially presented as aneosinophilic aseptic meningitis indicates the importance of including neurotoxocariasis in the differential diagnosis of aseptic meningitis syndrome with no other proven causative agent.