Neurosurgeon investigating patient's mystery symptoms plucks a worm from woman's brain in Australia

Neurosurgeon plucks wriggling worm from patient's brain in Australian hospital: 6-month follow-up showed improvement in patient's neuropsychiatric symptoms. Worm was larva of native roundworm, Ophidascaris robertsi, commonly found in carpet pythons.

A neurosurgeon investigating a woman’s mystery symptoms in an Australian hospital says she plucked a wriggling worm from the patient’s brain.

Surgeon Hari Priya Bandi was performing a biopsy through a hole in the 64-year-old patient’s skull at Canberra Hospital last year when she used forceps to pull out the parasite, which measured 8 centimetres, or 3 inches.

“I just thought: ‘What is that? It doesn’t make any sense. But it’s alive and moving,’” Dr. Bandi was quoted on August 29 in The Canberra Times newspaper.

“It continued to move with vigour. We all felt a bit sick,” Dr. Bandi added of her operating team.

The creature was the larva of an Australian native roundworm not previously known to be a human parasite, named Ophidascaris robertsi. The worms are commonly found in carpet pythons.

Dr. Bandi and Canberra infectious diseases physician Sanjaya Senanayake are authors of an article about the extraordinary medical case published in the latest edition of the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Senanayake said he was on duty at the hospital in June last year when the worm was found.