Here’s a very simple reminder that you may want to leave that pork chop on the grill for a few minutes longer.
A doctor has taken to social media to share a concerning scan photo of a woman’s legs, before asking his followers what they thought the diagnosis could be.
Describing the image as “one of the craziest CT scans he’s ever seen”, Sam Ghali, M.D. – who boasts more than 630,000 followers on X – shared the image of a female patient’s legs.
However, white blotches could be seen all over the scan image, leading to concerns from followers.
After giving people 24 hours to guess what they thought the answer could be, Dr. Ghali revealed that the patient in question had been suffering from Cysticercosis, which he explained is the “infamous parasitic infection caused by ingestion of larval cysts of Taenia Solium, also known as: Pork Tapeworm”.
The National Organisation for Rare Disorders explains that “cysticercosis arises from the ingestion of the pork tapeworm’s eggs through fecal-oral contamination, and involves the development of cysts throughout the body, but not in the intestinal tract”.
Dr. Ghali explained in his follow-up tweet that “after the eggs are ingested (humans or pigs) they release larvae which penetrate the intestinal wall and invade into the bloodstream (via mesenteric venules) and from there can spread to literally anywhere in the entire body.”
Here’s one of the craziest CT scans I’ve ever seen
What’s the diagnosis? pic.twitter.com/DSJmPfCy9L
— Sam Ghali, M.D. (@EM_RESUS) August 25, 2024
The most common areas of the body, according to Dr. Ghali, are the “brain, eyes, subcutaneous tissues, and skeletal muscles”.
Wherever the larvae end up, they form cysts known as cysticerci.
The scan in the tweet shows the body’s natural inflammatory response to the cysticerci – which kills them off and causes calcification, known as “rice grain calcifications” due to their appearance.
What’s terrifying is what Dr. Ghali wrote next: “What can be really bad is when the larvae end up traveling up to the brain and form cysts in actual brain tissue. This specific condition is known as neurocysticercosis. It can lead to headaches, confusion, seizures, and other serious neurologic problems.”
The NORD adds that the condition “can affect anyone at any age and affects males and females in equal numbers”.
The organization adds that, in most cases, cysticercosis is benign and patients won’t need treatment. However, there are medications for those who do.
The World Health Organization adds that neurocysticercosis (NCC) can lead to epileptic seizures. According to WHO, Taenia solium is reportedly the cause of “30% of epilepsy cases in many endemic areas where people and roaming pigs live in close proximity.”
Additionally, “in high-risk communities, it can be associated with as many as 70% of epilepsy cases.”
“The treatment for cysticercosis located within the nervous system (neurocysticercosis) consists of antiparasitic therapy, corticosteroids, antiepileptic drugs, and/or surgery. Treatment is always individualized for each patient,” NORD adds.
In a final message to his followers, Dr. Ghali writes: “So the moral of the story here is do your best to keep clean, always wash your hands, and never, ever eat raw or undercooked pork.”
I may just be avoiding it altogether.
