Cysticercosis in a female Nicaraguan traveler

Cysticercosis is a tissue infestation with Taenia solium (pork tapeworm) larvae and should feature in the differential diagnosis of all soft tissue swellings arising after travel to Central and South America, Eastern Europe, China, and India. We describe a patient who presented 8 months after travel to Nicaragua with pea-sized, intermittently tingling nodules in limbs and trunk and a lump in her mouth, which moved constantly. Various British practitioners misdiagnosed the patient's complaint as sebaceous cysts, diffuse lipomata, neurosis, and gnathostomiasis. The diagnosis was finally made by immunoblot assay testing for cysticercosis immunoglobulin (Ig)G, and the patient was cured with a course of albendazole 400 mg, taken twice daily for 30 days. This case illustrates the importance of careful history taking and appropriate investigations.