A Case of Sudden Death due to Neurocysticercosis (NCC) in a Chronic Alcoholic

NCC or Neurocysticercosis is one of the clinical syndromes produced by infection with larval stage of tapeworm Taenia Solium (Pork tapeworm). It is the commonest parasitic infection affecting the central nervous system in human beings. Though seizure disorders are common in NCC in adults, sudden death is rarely reported. In our present case study one young male footpath dweller of 35 years of age and known to be a chronic alcoholic, died suddenly after a drinking bout. The dead body was sent to Kolkata police morgue for autopsy examination as a medico-legal case. Save a minor degree of cirrhotic changes in the liver, abdominal and thoracic viscera were unremarkable. Unexpectedly the brain parenchyma was found to be studded with numerous cystic lesions, which on Histopathological examination was confirmed to be the lesions of Neurocysticercosis. Cardiovascular events originating from coronary atherosclerosis are regarded worldwide as commonest cause of sudden death, more so in alcoholics. Neurological causes, particularly vascular events are not rare too. Meticulous autopsy, supported by ancillary investigations, occasionally leads an autopsy surgeon to such surprising outcomes.