Epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis: analysis of 203 patients

We reviewed clinical, EEG, and CT findings of 203 patients with epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis. Seizures were generalized in 121 patients and partial in 82. Thirty-two patients had focal signs and eight had papilledema. Eighty-one had generalized and 16 had focal EEG abnormalities. CT showed par...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNeurology Vol. 42; no. 2; p. 389
Main Authors Del Brutto, O H, Santibañez, R, Noboa, C A, Aguirre, R, Díaz, E, Alarcón, T A
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.02.1992
Subjects
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Central Nervous System Diseases - complications
Central Nervous System Diseases - parasitology
Cysticercosis - complications
Cysticercosis - physiopathology
Electroencephalography
Epilepsy - etiology
Epilepsy - physiopathology
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prognosis
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Summary:We reviewed clinical, EEG, and CT findings of 203 patients with epilepsy due to neurocysticercosis. Seizures were generalized in 121 patients and partial in 82. Thirty-two patients had focal signs and eight had papilledema. Eighty-one had generalized and 16 had focal EEG abnormalities. CT showed parenchymal brain calcifications in 53 patients and cysts in 150. There was an increased rate of focal signs in patients with single cysts as compared with patients with multiple cysts, and focal EEG abnormalities were present only in patients with single cysts. Fifty patients were lost to follow-up. The remaining 153 patients were followed for 28 +/- 6 months; of these, 31 had calcifications and 122 had cysts. Anticonvulsants were started after the first visit in every patient. The 31 patients with calcifications remained free of seizures. Ninety-five of the 122 patients with cysts were also treated with anticysticercal drugs; of these, 79 (83%) had control of seizures. In contrast, only seven (26%) of 27 patients who did not receive anticysticercal drugs had control of seizures, indicating a strong correlation between the use of anticysticercal drugs and seizure control. Finally, of the 21 patients in whom anticonvulsants were withdrawn, 16 had relapses.
ISSN:0028-3878
DOI:10.1212/wnl.42.2.389