Differential Diagnoses

Workup

Schantz PM, Moore AC, Munoz JL, et al. Neurocysticercosis in an Orthodox Jewish community in New York City. N Engl J Med. 1992 Sep 3. 327(10):692-5. [Medline].
O'Neal SE, Flecker RH. Hospitalization frequency and charges for neurocysticercosis, United States, 2003-2012. Emerg Infect Dis. 2015 Jun. 21 (6):969-76. [Medline].
Garcia HH, Gonzalez AE, Tsang VC, O'Neal SE, Llanos-Zavalaga F, Gonzalvez G, et al. Elimination of Taenia solium Transmission in Northern Peru. N Engl J Med. 2016 Jun 16. 374 (24):2335-44. [Medline].
Raffaldi I, Scolfaro C, Mignone F, Aguzzi S, Denegri F, Tovo PA. An uncommon cause of seizures in children living in developed countries: neurocysticercosis--a case report. Ital J Pediatr. 2011 Jan 25. 37:9. [Medline]. [Full Text].
Garcia HH, Nash TE, Del Brutto OH. Clinical symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of neurocysticercosis. Lancet Neurol. 2014 Dec. 13 (12):1202-15. [Medline].
Murthy R, Samant M. Extraocular muscle cysticercosis: clinical features and management outcome. Strabismus. 2008 Jul-Sep. 16(3):97-106. [Medline].
Zammarchi L, Angheben A, Gobbi F, Zavarise G, Requena-Mendez A, Marchese V, et al. Profile of adult and pediatric neurocysticercosis cases observed in five Southern European centers. Neurol Sci. 2016 Aug. 37 (8):1349-55. [Medline].
Krumholz A, Wiebe S, Gronseth G, et al. Practice Parameter: evaluating an apparent unprovoked first seizure in adults (an evidence-based review): report of the Quality Standards Subcommittee of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Epilepsy Society. Neurology. 2007 Nov 20. 69(21):1996-2007. [Medline].
Quintana LM. Cysticercosis treatment- A complex interaction drug-parasite-host. World Neurosurg. 2012 Feb 22. [Medline].
AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases. Cysticercosis. AAP 2000 Red Book: Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases. 25th ed. 2000. 560-2.
Abuseir S, Kuhne M, Schnieder T, Klein G, Epe C. Evaluation of a serological method for the detection of Taenia saginata cysticercosis using serum and meat juice samples. Parasitol Res. 2007 Jun. 101(1):131-7. [Medline].
Ahmad FU, Sharma BS. Treatment of intramedullary spinal cysticercosis: report of 2 cases and review of literature. Surg Neurol. 2007 Jan. 67(1):74-7; discussion 77. [Medline].
Alonso-Trujillo J, Rivera-Montoya I, Rodriguez-Sosa M, Terrazas LI. Nitric oxide contributes to host resistance against experimental Taenia crassiceps cysticercosis. Parasitol Res. 2007 Jan 6. [Medline].
Bhigjee AI, Rosemberg S. Optimizing therapy of seizures in patients with HIV and cysticercosis. Neurology. 2006 Dec 26. 67(12 Suppl 4):S19-22. [Medline].
Blanton R. Cysticercosis. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 16th ed. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders; 2000. 1078-9.
Cohn-Zurita F, Guinto-Balanzar G, Perez-Cerdan H. [Neurocysticercosis associated with pituitary adenoma. Case report and literature review.]. Cir Cir. 2006 Jan-Feb. 74(1):47-9. [Medline].
Evans CAW, Garcia HH, Gilman RH. Cysticercosis. Hunter's Tropical Medicine and Emerging Infectious Diseases. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders; 2000. 862-6.
Facanha MC. [Cysticercosis' admissions in public health hospitals: Ceara State distribuition]. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2006 Sep-Oct. 39(5):484-7. [Medline].
Galan-Puchades MT, Fuentes MV. The specificity of the electroimmunotransfer blot assay for Taenia solium cysticercosis. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2007 Jan. 13(1):111-2; author reply 112. [Medline].
Garcia HH, Cancrini G, Bartalesi F, et al. Evaluation of immunodiagnostics for toxocarosis in experimental porcine cysticercosis. Trop Med Int Health. 2007 Jan. 12(1):107-10. [Medline].
Garcia HH, Del Brutto OH. Taenia solium cysticercosis. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2000 Mar. 14(1):97-119, ix. [Medline].
Geysen D, Kanobana K, Victor B, et al. Validation of meat inspection results for Taenia saginata cysticercosis by PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism. J Food Prot. 2007 Jan. 70(1):236-40. [Medline].
Goetz CG, Pappert EJ. Textbook of Clinical Neurology. Philadelphia, PA: WB Saunders; 1999.
Ishida MM, Peralta RH, Livramento JA, et al. Serodiagnosis of neurocysticercosis in patients with epileptic seizure using ELISA and immunoblot assay. Rev Inst Med Trop Sao Paulo. 2006 Nov-Dec. 48(6):343-6. [Medline].
King CH. Cestode infections. Cecil Textbook of Medicine. 21st ed. 2000. 1975-8.
King CH. Cestodes (tapeworms). Mandell's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 5th ed. New York, NY: Churchill Livingstone; 2000. 2956-62.
Kumar A, Pushker N, Bajaj MS, et al. Unifocal, subconjunctival twin cysticercosis cysts. J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2007 Jan-Feb. 44(1):55-6. [Medline].
Li T, Craig PS, Ito A, et al. Taeniasis/cysticercosis in a Tibetan population in Sichuan Province, China. Acta Trop. 2006 Dec. 100(3):223-231. [Medline].
Mahajan D, Khurana N, Setia N. Coexistence of salivary gland cysticercosis with squamous cell carcinoma of the mandible. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2007 Jan 11. [Medline].
Manfredi MT, Ghirardelli R, Zanzani S. [Cysticercus tenuicollis infection in a goat farm]. Parassitologia. 2006 Sep. 48(3):433-6. [Medline].
Proano JV, Madrazo I, Avelar F, et al. Medical treatment for neurocysticercosis characterized by giant subarachnoid cysts. N Engl J Med. 2001. 345(12):879-85. [Medline]. [Full Text].
Rajshekhar V, Raghava MV, Prabhakaran V, et al. Active epilepsy as an index of burden of neurocysticercosis in Vellore district, India. Neurology. 2006 Dec 26. 67(12):2135-9. [Medline].
Rodriguez-Hidalgo R, Benitez-Ortiz W, Praet N, et al. Taeniasis-cysticercosis in Southern Ecuador: assessment of infection status using multiple laboratory diagnostic tools. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2006 Nov. 101(7):779-82. [Medline].
Sandes AR, Mouzinho A, Valente P. Orbital cysticercosis: diagnosis and treatment controversies. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2007 Feb. 26(2):180-1. [Medline].
Sciutto E, Rosas G, Hernandez M, et al. Improvement of the synthetic tri-peptide vaccine (S3Pvac) against porcine Taenia solium cysticercosis in search of a more effective, inexpensive and manageable vaccine. Vaccine. 2007 Feb 9. 25(8):1368-78. [Medline].
Singhi P, Dayal D, Khandelwal N. One week versus four weeks of albendazole therapy for neurocysticercosis in children: a randomized, placebo-controlled double blind trial. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2003. 22(3):268-72. [Medline].
Singhi P, Singhi S. Neurocysticercosis in children. Indian J Pediatr. 2009 May. 76(5):537-45. [Medline].
Verulashvili I, Glonti L, Miminoshvili D, et al. [Basal Ganglia calcification: clinical manifestations and diagnostic evaluation.]. Georgian Med News. 2006 Nov. 39-43. [Medline].
Zheng Y, Cai X, Luo X, et al. Characterization of a new gene (SLC10) with a spliced leader from Taenia solium. Vet J. 2007 Feb 2. [Medline].
Sharma M, Singh T, Mathew A. Antiepileptic drugs for seizure control in people with neurocysticercosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2015 Oct 12. CD009027. [Medline].

Media Gallery

Cysticercosis life cycle. Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
MRI of 6-year-old boy from Peru with single right frontal cyst (coronal image). Image courtesy of Eric H. Kossoff, MD.
Axial image MRI of same patient as in Media file 2. Image courtesy of Eric H. Kossoff, MD.
CT scan of intraparenchymal cysticercosis with lesions in different stages. Lesions that are breaking down demonstrate peripheral enhancement after intravenous contrast injection, whereas lesions without peripheral enhancement are intact. Typical residual calcification from an old focus of infection is observed in the left occipital lobe. Image courtesy of Fred Greensite, MD.
Racemose (extraparenchymal) cysticercosis (T1-weighted MRI). Note the cyst in the fourth ventricle, causing obstructive hydrocephalus. Image courtesy of Fred Greensite, MD.
Racemose cysticercosis (T1-weighted MRI). Note cluster of cysts anterior to the pons and inferior to the hypothalamus in a different patient. Image courtesy of Fred Greensite, MD.
Racemose cysticercosis (same patient as in Media file 6). Note the enhancing margin of the cysts in the suprasellar cistern and in the left sylvian fissure after gadolinium injection (T1-weighted MRI). Image courtesy of Fred Greensite, MD.
Racemose cysticercosis (same patient as in Media files 6-7). Coronal image (postgadolinium T1-weighted MRI) posterior to the slice in Media file 7. Cysts in this slice (below the hypothalamus) do not have enhancing margins. Also, unlike intraparenchymal lesions, scolexes are typically not identified in the cysts of racemose cysticercosis. Image courtesy of Fred Greensite, MD.

of 8

Author

Delaram Ghadishah, MD Physician, Emergency Department, Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Medical Center

Delaram Ghadishah, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Coauthor(s)

Michael James Burns, MD, FACEP, FACP, FIDSA Health Science Clinical Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California Irvine School of Medicine

Michael James Burns, MD, FACEP, FACP, FIDSA is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American College of Emergency Physicians, American College of Physicians, American Geriatrics Society, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, California Medical Association, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Phi Beta Kappa, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Specialty Editor Board

Mary L Windle, PharmD Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy; Editor-in-Chief, Medscape Drug Reference

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Martin Weisse, MD Program Director, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University

Martin Weisse, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Academic Pediatric Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

Russell W Steele, MD Clinical Professor, Tulane University School of Medicine; Staff Physician, Ochsner Clinic Foundation

Russell W Steele, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Pediatrics, American Association of Immunologists, American Pediatric Society, American Society for Microbiology, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Louisiana State Medical Society, Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society, Society for Pediatric Research, Southern Medical Association

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Additional Contributors

Glenn Fennelly, MD, MPH Director, Division of Infectious Diseases, Lewis M Fraad Department of Pediatrics, Jacobi Medical Center; Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Glenn Fennelly, MD, MPH is a member of the following medical societies: Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society

Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Sections Pediatric Cysticercosis
Overview
Presentation
- History
- Physical
- Causes
- Show All
DDx
Workup
Treatment
Medication
Follow-up
Media Gallery
References

Pediatric Cysticercosis Differential Diagnoses

Differential Diagnoses

References

Tables

Contributor Information and Disclosures

What would you like to print?