Abstract: Objective To explore MRI characteristics and follow-up value of cerebral sparganosis. Methods The clinical and MRI imaging data of 16 patients with cerebral sparganosis proved by ELISA in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. Results The patients consisted of 11 males and 5 females, with an average age of 27 year-old (10-54 year-old). 14 patients have ingested uncooked frogs,while 12 patients have drank cyclops polluted water. All 16 patients with cerebral sparganosis received MRI scans before clinically verified and in the follow-up respectively. The results showed that 28 lesions were found in 16 patients while there were 6 patients with solitary lesions and 10 patients with multiple and asymmetrical lesion. The locations of these lesions were as following: 24 lesions in cerebral hemisphere, 2 lesions in cerebellar hemisphere and 2 lesions in brain stem. The lesions were slight hypointense on T1WI, hyperintense on T2WI and FLAIR, surrounded by edema but without remarkable occupied effect. Enhanced MRI showed characteristic patterns such as peripheral ring,tortuous beaded, serpiginous tubular shape,or multiple enhancements tangled as "string-kont shape". Among those 9 patients who received follow-up MRI scan, morphological and location changes of lesions emerged in 3 patients, while new additional lesions occurred in 2 patients and the lesion vanished in 1 patient. Conclusions MRI characteristic enhancements and the follow-up could provide additional information to the diagnosis of cerebral sparganosis. To diagnose the cerebral sparganosis, MRI enhancement scans, follow-up scans and clinical histories should be referred to.

Key words: Brain, Sparganosis, MRI