Neurocysticercosis without detectable specific antibody.
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A 19-year-old girl who had lived in India for five years until 1992 was admitted to Hokuto Hospital after general seizures which lasted for fifteen minutes. Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a ring-enhanced lesion of 6 mm in diameter in the right parietal lobe. She underwent surgical resection after diagnosis of the brain tumor. Histopathological examinations revealed that the resected tumor was a cysticercus of Taenia solium (T. solium), and we concluded that her seizures were caused by neurocysticercosis. Serological examinations by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblots to detect specific antibody against the glycoproteins of T. solium showed no detectable antibody response. The patient is under careful observation in our out-patient clinic with no medication. (+info)
Neurocysticercosis in an Italian traveler to Latin America.
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Neurocysticercosis is rarely reported in short-term travelers, although the disease remains a major public health problem in tropical regions. We present a case of neurocysticercosis that was probably acquired by ingestion of Taenia solium eggs contained in the stomach of a pig butchered by the traveler. Complete clinical resolution was obtained by medical treatment, underlying the importance of early suspicion and diagnosis of the disease. (+info)
Reappearing CT lesions: 4 cases.
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An overwhelming majority of disappearing CT lesions in India have been aetiologically linked to cysticercosis. We report 4 patients with disappearing CT lesions in whom the lesion later reappeared at the same (3 patients) or different site (1 patient). One patient was a Taenia carrier. Serial MRI evaluation in one patient revealed a persisting lesion in the interval period. The contribution of these observations towards the understanding of the aetiology of disappearing CT lesions is discussed. (+info)
Reactivation of neurocysticercosis: case report.
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A 37-year-old woman with a known history of longstanding neurocysticercosis presented with a three-day history of new onset headache. Several years prior to her current presentation, she had undergone cysticidal treatment and was assumed to be cured of active disease. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging studies done three months prior to presentation showed multiple intracerebral calcified lesions consistent with resolved neurocysticercosis. Physical and laboratory findings were noncontributory. Imaging studies showed the same previously calcified lesions, but they were now surrounded by large amounts of edema. This case represents a unique report of reactivation of neurocysticercosis and raises interesting questions about the natural history of this infection. (+info)
Brain parenchymal, subarachnoid racemose, and intraventricular cysticercosis in an Indian man.
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The coexistence of brain parenchymal cysts at various stages of evolution, both intraventricular and subarachnoid racemose, is reported in a patient with neurocysticercosis. The condition has a variety of presentations, depending on the location of the cyst. This case is of particular interest because of the rarity of this condition in India. (+info)
A recombinant 10-kDa protein of Taenia solium metacestodes specific to active neurocysticercosis.
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Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is an important cause of neurological disease worldwide. A 10-kDa antigen of Taenia solium metacestodes (TsMs) has been shown to be specific for immunodiagnosis of NCC. Screening of a TsM complementary DNA (cDNA) library isolated a cDNA encoding this protein. The cloned cDNA contained a 258-bp complete open-reading frame that encodes an 86-amino acid polypeptide with a calculated molecular weight of 9582 Da. It showed 73% homology with a 10-kDa antigen of T. crassiceps. The recombinant protein was expressed bacterially as a fusion protein at a high level. In immunoblot with recombinant protein, 97% (184/190) of sera from patients with active NCC showed strong reactivity, whereas 14% (4/29) of those from patients with chronic calcified NCC reacted weakly. In 180 sera from other patients with parasitic infections and from normal controls, it showed 98% specificity. A single recombinant TsM antigen has a high potential for serological differentiation of active NCC. (+info)
Epilepsy and neurocysticercosis in an Andean community.
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BACKGROUND: Taenia solium neurocysticercosis (NCC) has been documented as one of the major causes of epilepsy in developing countries. However, methodological limitations have hindered the evaluation of the epidemiological relationship between cysticercosis and epilepsy at the community level. METHODS: We used the WHO protocol for epidemiological evaluation of neurological disorders to conduct a door-to-door survey among 2723 residents of San Pablo del Lago, an Ecuadorean rural community in which T. solium taeniasis/cysticercosis was known to be endemic. The WHO protocol was complemented by neuroimaging and immunological tests to confirm the diagnosis of this infection. RESULTS: In all 31 people suffering from active epilepsy were detected (prevalence 11.4 per 1000, 95% CI:7.7-15.4); 26 agreed to undergo a computer tomography (CT) examination, and 28 agreed to have blood drawn for serodiagnosis. Fourteen of the 26 (53.8%) had CT changes compatible with NCC and six of the 28 (21.4%) tested positive in the enzyme-linked immunoelectro-transfer blot (EITB) assay. In a seizure-free random sample of this population, 17 of 118 (144 per 1000) subjects examined by CT and 10 out of 96 (104 per 1000) examined by EITB had evidence of this infection. The differences between the epilepsy group and the random sample of the population were statistically significant (OR = 6.93, 95% CI: 2.7-17.5, P < 0.001) for CT diagnosis, but not for EITB results (OR = 2.75, 95% CI: 0.8-7.1, P > 0.12, NS). CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm that T. solium NCC is a significant cause of epilepsy at the community level in Andean villages of Ecuador. It is important to initiate effective public health interventions to eliminate this infection, which may be responsible for at least half of the cases of reported epilepsy in Ecuador. (+info)
Magnitude of the disease burden from neurocysticercosis in a developing country.
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Cysticercosis contributes to higher epilepsy rates in developing countries than in industrialized ones, yet no estimate exists for the associated burden of disease. We used epidemiological data on neurocysticercosis in Peru to calculate the burden of disease and applied our model to the other countries of Latin America where neurocysticercosis is endemic to determine a regional estimate. Analysis of 12 population-based community studies demonstrated that neurocysticercosis was endemic in highland areas and high jungles, with seroprevalences from 6% to 24%. In one community, the adult seizure disorder rate was 9.1% among seropositive persons versus 4. 6% among seronegative persons; we used this difference for estimates. On the basis of average prevalence rates in areas of endemicity of 6%-10%, we estimated that there are 23,512-39,186 symptomatic neurocysticercosis cases in Peru. In Latin America, an estimated 75 million persons live in areas where cysticercosis is endemic, and approximately 400,000 have symptomatic disease. Cysticercosis contributes substantially to neurological disease in Peru and in all of Latin America. (+info)