Diagnosis, treatment and control of Taenia solium cysticercosis

Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases

Volumn 16, Issue 5, 2003, Pages 411-419

  Garcia, Hector H ^a,b,c   Gonzalez, Armando E ^c,d   Gilman, Robert H ^b,c  

^a INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE CIENCIAS NEUROLÓGICAS   (Peru)

^b UNIVERSIDAD PERUANA CAYETANO HEREDIA   (Peru)

^c JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL MAYOR DE SAN MARCOS   (Peru)

Author keywords

Cysticercosis; Neurocysticercosis; Seizures; Taenia solium

Indexed keywords

ALBENDAZOLE SULFOXIDE; ANTIBODY; ANTIPARASITIC AGENT; NICLOSAMIDE; OXFENDAZOLE; PRAZIQUANTEL; VACCINE;

ANTIGEN DETECTION; AWARENESS; BRAIN RADIOGRAPHY; CESTODE; CHRONIC DISEASE; CLINICAL EXAMINATION; CYSTICERCOSIS; DIAGNOSTIC TEST; DRUG EFFICACY; HUMAN; IMAGING; INFLAMMATION; LONG TERM CARE; MEDICAL LITERATURE; NEUROCYSTICERCOSIS; NONHUMAN; PROGNOSIS; RELAPSE; REVIEW; SCAR; SEROLOGY; SYMPTOM; SYMPTOMATOLOGY; TAENIA SOLIUM; TAENIASIS;

ANIMALS; ANTICONVULSANTS; ANTIPROTOZOAL AGENTS; HUMANS; MEAT; NEUROCYSTICERCOSIS; PRACTICE GUIDELINES; SWINE; TAENIA SOLIUM;

EID: 0142043913     PISSN: 09517375     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1097/00001432-200310000-00007     Document Type: Review

References (44)

1. Garcia HH, Gonzalez AE, Evans CAW, Gilman RH. The Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru. Taenia solium cysticercosis. Lancet (in press).
2. Ong S, Talan DA, Moran GJ, et al. Neurocysticercosis in radiographically imaged seizure patients in U.S. emergency departments. Emerg Infect Dis 2002; 8:608-613. This describes the first systematic evaluation of the prevalence of NCC in seizure patients in a non-endemic setting. Surprisingly high seroprevalence levels were found in epileptic patients in some US hospitals, mainly in cities with sizeable Hispanic populations.
3. Mower WR, Biros MH, Talan DA, et al. Selective tomographic imaging of patients with new-onset seizure disorders. Acad Emerg Med 2002; 9:43-47.
4. Schantz PM, Wilkins PP, Tsang VCW. Immigrants, imaging and immunoblots: the emergence of neurocysticercosis as a significant public health problem. In: Scheld WM, Craig WA, Hughes JM, editors. Emerging infections 2. Washington: ASM Press; 1998. pp. 213-241.
5. White AC Jr, Atmar RL. Infections in Hispanic immigrants. Clin Infect Dis 2002; 34:1627-1632.
6. Escobar A. The pathology of neurocysticercosis. In: Palacios E, Rodriguez-Carbajal J, Taveras JM, editors. Cysticercosis of the central nervous system. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas; 1983. pp. 27-54.
7. Trentin AP, Teive HA, Tsubouchi MH, et al. Tomographic findings in 1000 consecutive patients with antecedents of epileptic seizures [in Portuguese]. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2002; 60:416-419. These authors present a good estimation of the impact of neurocysticercosis in neurological morbidity in an endemic country. Approximately 25% of patients with seizures had computed tomographic evidence of NCC. Over half of these had calcified lesions only.
8. Schneider RK, Robinson MJ, Levenson JL. Psychiatric presentations of non-HIV infectious diseases. Neurocysticercosis, Lyme disease, and pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infection. Psychiatr Clin North Am 2002; 25:1-16.
9. Rangel R, Torres B, Del Bruto O, Sotelo J. Cysticercotic encephalitis: a severe form in young females. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1987; 36:387-392.
10. Garcia HH, Del Brutto OH. Heavy nonencephalitic cerebral cysticercosis in tapeworm carriers. The Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru. Neurology 1999; 53:1582-1584.
11. Wadia N, Desai S, Bhatt M. Disseminated cysticercosis. New observations, including CT scan findings and experience with treatment by praziquantel. Brain 1988; 111:597-614.
12. Sheehan JP, Sheehan JM, Lopes MB, Jane JA. Intramedullary cervical spine cysticercosis. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2002; 144:1061-1063.
13. Allan JC, Avila G, Garcia-Noval J, et al. Immunodiagnosis of taeniasis by coproantigen detection. Parasitology 1990; 101: 473-477.
14. Gonzalez LM, Montero E, Puente S, et al. PCR tools for the differential diagnosis of Taenia saginata and Taenia sofium taeniasis/cysticercosis from different geographical locations. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2002; 42:243-249. This is a recent addition to the molecular species-specific diagnosis of human taeniasis infections by examining parasite tissue.
15. Wilkins PP, Allan JC, Verastegui M, et al. Development of a serologic assay to detect Taenia solium taeniasis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1999; 60:199-204.
16. Dumas JL, Vusy JM, Belin C. Parenchymal neurocysticercosis: follow up and staging by MRI. Neuroradiology 1997; 39:12-16.
17. Tsang VC, Brand JA, Boyer AE. An enzyme-linked immunoelectrotransfer blot assay and glycoprotein antigens for diagnosing human cysticercosis (Taenia solium). J Infect Dis 1989; 159:50-59.
18. Gekeler F, Eichenlaub S, Mendoza EG, et al. Sensitivity and specificity of ELISA and immunoblot for diagnosing neurocysticercosis. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2002; 21:227-229. Immunoblot showed much better specificity than enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in this series, mainly because of cross-reactions with other parasitic infections.
19. Proano-Narvaez JV, Meza-Lucas A, Mata-Ruiz O, et al. Laboratory diagnosis of human neurocysticercosis: double-blind comparison of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and electroimmunotransfer blot assay. J Clin Microbiol 2002; 40:2115-2118. This well designed study demonstrated the superiority of enzyme-linked electroimmunotransfer blot over immunosorbent assay for clinical diagnosis.
20. Garcia HH, Gilman RH, Gonzalez AE, et al. Hyperendemic human and porcine Taenia solium infection in Peru. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2003; 68:268-75. This large scale survey in a highland area demonstrated impressive levels of antibodies to cysticercosis, taeniasis, and pig cysticercosis.
21. Garcia HH, Gonzalez AE, Gilman RH, et al. Circulating parasite antigen in patients with hydrocephalus secondary to neurocysticercosis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2002; 66:427-430.
22. Nguekam JP, Zoli AP, Zogo PO, et al. A seroepidemiological study of human cysticercosis in West Cameroon. Trop Med Int Health 2003; 8:144-149.
23. Nguekam JP, Zoli AP, Ongolo-Zogo P, et al. Follow-up of neurocysticercosis patients after treatment using an antigen detection ELISA. Parasite 2003; 10:65-68. A potential application for antigen detection assays (treatment follow-up) is shown in a small series of patients.
24. Del Brutto OH, Wadia NH, Dumas M, et al. Proposal of diagnostic criteria for human cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis. J Neurol Sci 1996; 142:1-6.
25. Del Brutto OH, Rajshekhar V, White AC Jr, et al. Proposed diagnostic criteria for neurocysticercosis. Neurology 2001; 57:177-183.
26. Pearson RD, Hewlett EL. Niclosamide therapy for tapeworm infections. Ann Intern Med 1985; 102:550-551.
27. Takayanagui OM, Bonato PS, Dreossi SA, Lanchote VL. Enantioselective distribution of albendazole metabolites in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with neurocysticercosis. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2002; 54:125-130. These authors demonstrate an interesting aspect of the pharmacology of albendazole which may have implications in the therapy of NCC.
28. Lanchote VL, Garcia FS, Dreossi SA, Takayanagui OM. Pharmacokinetic interaction between albendazole sulfoxide enantiomers and antiepileptic drugs in patients with neurocysticercosis. Ther Drug Monit 2002; 24:338-345.
29. Marques MP, Takayanagui OM, Lanchote VL. Albendazole metabolism in patients with neurocysticercosis: antipyrine as a multifunctional marker drug of cytochrome P450. Braz J Med Biol Res 2002; 35:261-269.
30. Salinas R, Prasad K. Drugs for treating neurocysticercosis (tapeworm infection of the brain). The Cochrane Library. Oxford: Update Software; 2003.
31. Carpio A, Hauser WA. Prognosis for seizure recurrence in patients with newly diagnosed neurocysticercosis. Neurology 2002; 59:1730-1734.
32. Kelley R, Duong DH, Locke GE. Characteristics of ventricular shunt malfunctions among patients with neurocysticercosis. Neurosurgery 2002; 50:757-761. Ventricular shunt malfunctions are a serious problem in NCC and are a cause of significant mortality. This article identifies the more common problems and its relation with antiparasitic treatment.
33. Baranwal AK, Singhi PD, Khandelwal N, Singhi SC. Albendazole therapy in children with focal seizures and single small enhancing computerized tomographic lesions: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind trial. Pediatr Infect Dis J 1998; 17:696-700.
34. 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; 22:268-272. This is one of the scarce double blind trials in treatment of NCC. This paper showed similar efficacy for 1 versus 4 weeks of albendazole in the treatment of single degenerating parasites.
35. Keiser PB, Nash TE. Prolonged perilesional edema after treatment of parenchymal neurocysticercosis: methotrexate as a corticosteroid-sparing agent. Clin Infect Dis 2003; 36:E122-E126. This article highlights the potential complications in the management of inflammation following antiparasitic therapy in neurocysticercosis.
36. Garcia HH, Evans CA, Nash TE, et al. Current consensus guidelines for treatment of neurocysticercosis. Clin Microbiol Rev 2002; 15:747-756. A consensus document written by 17 experts from several countries. It stresses the different presentations of neurocysticercosis and their individual therapeutic approaches including second line alternatives where no consensus was obtained.
37. Garcia-Noval J, Allan JC, Fletes C, et al. Epidemiology of Taenia solium taeniasis and cysticercosis in two rural Guatemalan communities. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1996; 55:282-289.
38. Sanchez AL, Lindback J, Schantz PM, et al. A population-based, case-control study of Taenia solium taeniasis and cysticercosis. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 1999; 93:247-258.
39. Fleury A, Gomez T, Alvarez I, et al. High prevalence of calcified silent neurocysticercosis in a rural village of Mexico. Neuroepidemiology 2003; 22:139-145.
40. Sotelo J. Neurocysticercosis: eradication of cysticercosis is an attainable goal. BMJ 2003; 326:511-512. This is a timely and concise opinion paper on the current situation of control efforts for taeniasis/cysticercosis.
41. Gonzalez AE, Garcia HH, Gilman RH, Tsang VCW. The Cysticercosis Working Group in Peru. Control of Taenia solium. Acta Tropica 2003; 87:103-109.
42. Gonzalez AE, Gilman RH, Garcia HH, Lopez T. Use of a simulation model to evaluate control programmes against Taenia solium cysticercosis. In: Singh G, Prabhakar S, editors. Taenia solium cysticercosis. From basic to clinical science. Oxon: CABI Publishing; 2002. pp. 437-448.
43. Verastegui M, Gilman RH, Gonzalez AE, et al. Taenia solium oncosphere antigen induce immunity in pigs against experimental cysticercosis. Vet Parasitol 2002; 108:49-62.
44. Sciutto E, Fragoso G, Manoutcharian K, et al. New approaches to improve a peptide vaccine against porcine Taenia solium cysticercosis. Arch Med Res 2002; 33:371-378. This describes development and testing of a promising pig vaccine based on antigens from the closely related T. crassiceps.