Cerebral hemorrhagic lesions produced by Paragonimus mexicanus. Report of three cases in Costa Rica.

Three cases of cerebral lesions due to Paragonimus mexicanus in Costa Rica are reported, two of which were fatal. At autopsy a hemorrhagic, well circumscribed lesion was found in the hemispheres which microscopically consisted of a recent hemorrhage surrounded by a halo of eosinophils, with giant cell granulomas and Charcot-Leyden crystals. Eggs of P. mexicanus outside the brain were demonstrated in both fatal cases--in an eosinophilic pericarditis in one and in the other in multiple lesions of the liver and lungs. The third patient had a hemorrhagic cerebral lesion which was surgically evacuated; the patient recovered. Eggs were demonstrated in serial sections of the material resected.