Prevalence, Response to Cysticidal Therapy, and Risk Factors for Persistent Seizure in Indian Children with Neurocysticercosis.
Background.Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is the commonest cause of childhood acquired epilepsy in developing countries. The use of cysticidal therapy in NCC, except "single lesion NCC," is still debated in view of its doubtful usefulness and potential adverse effects.Methods.Children presenting with first episode of seizure or acute focal neurological deficit without fever were screened for NCC and received appropriate therapy (followup done for 1 year to look for the response and side effects).Results.The prevalence of NCC was 4.5%. Most common presenting feature was generalized seizure and commonest imaging finding was single small enhancing lesion in the parietal lobe. Abnormal EEG and CSF abnormalities were found in almost half of the children. The response to therapy was very good with infrequent recurrence of seizure and adverse effects of therapy were encountered rarely. No risk factors for persistent seizure could be identified.Conclusion.Present study shows that the response to cysticidal therapy is very good in NCC as seizure recurrence was observed in only 5%, 4.2%, and 4.2% of cases at 3-month, 6-month, and 1-year followup. Adverse effects of therapy were observed in 20% of cases during therapy but they were mild and self-limiting.
Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Animesh
A
Kumar
Department of Pediatrics, Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, New Delhi 110016, India.
Anirban
A
Mandal
Department of Pediatrics, Patna Medical College and Hospital, Patna 800004, India.
Sheela
S
Sinha
Department of Pediatrics, Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya, New Delhi 110031, India.
Amitabh
A
Singh
Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar 751019, India.
Rashmi Ranjan
0000-0001-9587-0508
RR
Das