Neurocysticercosis in children: clinical characteristics and outcome

Abstract

A study was undertaken on 176 children with neurocysticercosis to determine the clinical behaviour and long-term outcome of cases. The children were followed up prospectively in the paediatric neurology clinic for 6 years. Diagnosis was based primarily on CT scans. All the CT lesions were parenchymal and mostly single (87%) with ring enhancement and peri-lesional oedema. Partial seizure was the predominant presenting seizure type. About 65% of cases had recurrences at varying intervals during treatment. Albendazole therapy given to some cases did not appear to have any beneficial effect on seizure control. Repeat CTs done at varying intervals after the first seizures showed disappearance of the lesions in about 50% of cases. The majority of lesions disappeared without the use of albendazole. Recurrence of seizures after withdrawal of anti-epileptic medication was observed in 19% of the cases. Parenchymal neurocysticercosis in children commonly presents with partial seizures and ring lesions on CT. The disease can be managed well by anti-epileptic medication alone and the prognosis is good.

A retrospective analysis of variability of clinical presentations and brain imaging findings in children with neurocysticercosis in rural population of West Bengal

“…6,8 Shrestha et al, 11 in their study found single lesion in 89.8% cases. Talukdar et al, 16 in their study reported similar result. In contrast, some other studies claimed that multiple lesions were predominant as compared to single lesions.…”

“…In a study by Shrestha et al, 11 it was found that the lesions had mostly been in a transitional stage (61.22%) in CT; perilesional oedema and scolex within the lesion were noted in 67.34% and 18.36% of the cases respectively. Talukdar et al, 16 in their studies reported similar CT findings.…”

Study of clinical and radiological profile of children with neurocysticercosis

“…Singhi et al and Talukdar et al et al in their studies reported similar findings. 11,17 Following Tables show the comparison with different studies on NCC. …”

Neurocysticercosis

“…Seizures are by far the most frequent clinical manifestation of intraparenchymal NCC. The seizures are usually short, less than 5 min; however status epilepticus has been reported in 2 % to 32 % cases [13][14][15][16]. In a series of 500 children from India, seizures were reported in 95 % cases [13].…”