[Neurocysticercosis in a tertiary hospital. New advances in the diagnosis and treatment].

Cerebral cysticercosis is an endemic parasitosis in many developing countries with a great variability in its presentation and prognosis. In the last 37 years (1960-1996) we have studied 18 patients at Fundación Jiménez Díaz. Sixteen were spanish; ten of them (62.5%) came from rural areas and they all were seen before 1988. Ten patients (56%) were males and seven (44%) females. The mean age was 49 years (range: 22-80). The most common symptoms at diagnosis were: seizures (61%), headache (55%), visual disturbances (39%), symptoms of intracranial hypertension (33%), mental disturbances (33%) and other focal symptoms (33%). CT and NMR showed changes in all cases, and hydrocephalia, presence of brain calcifications and ventricular or subarachnoidal parenchymal cysts were the most common findings. Three patients received antiparasitic therapy (praziquantel and albendazol), two of them associated with surgery. The most common surgical procedure was cyst exeresis and ventriculo-peritoneal shunts. The evolution was favorable in 90% of cases.