A woman who was experiencing forgetfulness and depression has had an 8cm-long parasitic roundworm removed from her brain.
The 64-year-old woman, who was living in New South Wales, Australia, was admitted to hospital in January 2021 after three weeks of abdominal pain.
By 2022, her symptoms had evolved to include forgetfulness and depression, prompting medical professionals to refer her to Canberra Hospital.
An MRI scan of her brain revealed that a motile helminth – a parasitic roundworm – was living in the right frontal lobe lesion of her brain.
Surgical intervention became the only option, and doctors successfully removed the roundworm, which measured 8cm (80mm) in length and 1mm in diameter.
