Title
Neurocysticercosis in persons with epilepsy in Medellin, Colombia
Date Issued
01 December 1998
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Palacio L.G.
Jimenez I.
Jimenez M.E.
Sanchez J.L.
Noh J.
Ahn L.
Mora O.
Giraldo M.
Tsang V.C.W.
Acebedo S.
Arcos-Burgos O.M.
Buritica O.
Canasteros I.
Cevallos F.
Diaz H.
Hurtado A.
Isaza R.
Londono A.C.
Munoz A.
Pineda D.
Rodriguez M.
Tobon N.
Uribe C.S.
Villa A.
Center for Disease Control
Abstract
Purpose: A prospective series of 643 persons with epilepsy attending a reference neurologic center in Medellin, Colombia, was examined by computed tomography (CT scan) or serology or both with the enzyme-linked immunoelectro-transfer blot assay (EITB) to assess the prevalence of Taenia solium cysticercosis. Methods: All presenting patients were consecutively enrolled in the study. Five hundred forty-six persons underwent cerebral CT scans; 376 of them also had serum EITB performed. Results: Prevalence of neurocysticercosis by CT scan was 13.92%. Overall prevalence of T. solium antibodies with EITB was 9.82%, but for those with late-onset epilepsy (onset after age 30 years), prevalence increased to 17.5% and 19% for those who originated from outside urban Medellin. Seroprevalence in individuals with mixed lesions (cysts and calcifications) was 88.2% and 64.10% in those with live cysts. Conversely, only 2.72% of persons with CT findings not related to neurocysticercosis had positive EITB tests. Conclusions: Our study shows that an important proportion of individuals with epilepsy have radiologic or serologic evidence of T. solium infection, suggesting that neurocysticercosis is an important etiology for epilepsy in Colombia.
Start page
1334
End page
1339
Volume
39
Issue
12
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Parasitología
Neurología clínica
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-0032425532
PubMed ID
Source
Epilepsia
ISSN of the container
00139580
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus