A rare case of pulmonary cysticercosis manifesting as lung cavity with pleural effusion

Isolated pulmonary cysticercosis is extremely rare manifestation of a rather common disease which is distributed worldwide. Most common sites which provide perfect nourishment for the growth of cysticercosis are muscle and brain followed by eye. Pulmonary involvement in cysticercosis is very rare and if at all present, then ill-defined nodular shadows distributed throughout the lung is the usual radiological presentation. No case of cysticercosis presenting as lung cavity with pleural effusion has been reported so far in literature. We came across a rarest presentation of cysticercosis as cavity in the lung with effusion. After nullifying all the differential diagnosis of cavitary lung lesions, a diagnosis of pulmonary cysticercosis was made by histopathological examination of the lung cavity aspirate and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for cysticercosis. Case was successfully treated with albendazole (15mg/kg) with steroid cover.