Cerebral mansoni schistosomiasis: a systematic review of 33 cases published from 1989 to 2019.

Background: We investigated the epidemiology, clinical presentation and outcomes of individuals affected by cerebral schistosomiasis.

Methods: This systematic review was planned in accordance with current guidelines for performing comprehensive systematic reviews and meta-analysis, including the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guideline.

Results: Most of patients presented with seizures (48.5%), which is a non-specific symptom despite its high prevalence. There was no specific clinical manifestation that could help the diagnosis, which was made in 69.7% by histopathological analysis of brain tissue.

Conclusions: Seizures are a non-specific symptom to diagnose patients with cerebral schistosomiasis and accurate clinical indicators need to be derived through further studies.