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Pediatric neurocysticercosis

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Abstract

Background

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is an infestation of the nervous system caused by encysted larvae of Taenia solium. NCC is an important acquired cause of epilepsy and other neurological manifestations especially in endemic areas. NCC in children has pleomorphic manifestations depending on the location, number, viability of the cysts, and host response. Even with advancing knowledge of the disease manifestations, many aspects related to diagnosis and treatment, particularly in children, still remain controversial and pose challenges to clinical practice. There is no gold standard test to diagnose NCC and the management recommendations are still emerging. This review provides an overview of diagnosis of NCC in children and its management with special focus on current challenges and future prospects.

Discussion

In developing countries, NCC is important not only because of its frequency but also because of high morbidity and mortality rates associated, especially in cases in which it progresses to increased intracranial pressure. Because of its pleomorphic presentation, NCC should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a number of neurological conditions. Treatment with cysticidal therapy leads to reduction in seizure frequency and a faster resolution of lesions.

Conclusions

We have summarized the current approaches to diagnosis and treatment of NCC, recent advances in understanding the biology of NCC, and how one can take advantage of these new insights to formulate the next generation of clinical trials.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Neurosurgery and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery and Anatomy, University Hospital of Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Ricardo Santos de Oliveira, Dinark Conceição Viana & Benedicto Oscar Colli

  2. Department of Neurological Sciences, Christian Medical College Hospital, Vellore, India

    Vedantam Rajshekhar

  3. Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, National Institute of Women, Children and Adolescents Health Fernandes Figueira - Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (IFF - Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    José Francisco Manganelli Salomão

Authors
  1. Ricardo Santos de Oliveira
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  2. Dinark Conceição Viana
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  3. Benedicto Oscar Colli
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  4. Vedantam Rajshekhar
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  5. José Francisco Manganelli Salomão
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to José Francisco Manganelli Salomão.

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There was no financial support nor industry affiliations involved in this work. None of the authors has any personal or institutional financial interest in drugs, materials, or devices.

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de Oliveira, R.S., Viana, D.C., Colli, B.O. et al. Pediatric neurocysticercosis. Childs Nerv Syst 34, 1957–1965 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-018-3889-4

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