Clinical manifestations and sequential computed tomography scans of cerebral cysticercosis in childhood.

Cerebral cysticercosis was studied in 131 children. The patients were divided into two groups, confirmed and probable cysticercosis. The clinical picture may be divided into two stages: initial stage of acute invasion and chronic encephalitic stage. Symptoms in the initial stage are headache, vomiting, fever, myalgia, abdominal pain, seizures and psychotic reactions. In the initial stage only cerebral edema can be seen in the computed tomography (CT) scan. In the chronic stage, variability of symptomatology is great, and it is in this phase that cysticerci can be seen in the CT scan. Only 66 out of the 131 patients studied had CT performed. The computed tomographic sequence of parenchymatous brain cysticercosis is described. A feature not previously reported was the presence of transient arterial hypertension due to cerebral cysticercosis found in four cases.