A neurosurgeon at Ascension Seton Hospital, part of Ascension Texas, made the news recently following a successful procedure to remove a tapeworm from a patient’s brain.
Multiple Austin-based outlets reported on the procedure performed by Jordan Amadio, MD, who described the condition as “rare and truly extraordinary” and urged medical professionals to become aware of the possibility.
According to KXAN, the male patient had been dealing with awful headaches and “feeling off,” but a fall while playing soccer led him to have it checked out. An MRI revealed a tapeworm in his brain.
Doctors think the tapeworm had been growing slowly since the man, identified only as Gerardo, contracted it from eating undercooked pork in Mexico more than a decade ago.
“This can go undetected for years, so you can eat by accident a microscopic egg from the tapeworm larva and not know it for years,” Dr. Amadio said. “They can grow inside the body without causing symptoms until they get big enough.”
After a complex surgery, the patient no longer has headaches and is back to work and feeling normal.
