Neurocysticercosis. A rare and serious clinical condition

Abstract

Introduction: Cysticercosis is a parasitic disease that invades various organs and tissues by the cysticercoid larva of Taenia solium. Although it can be in any tissue, the larvae have special tropism for subcutaneous and muscular tissue, as well as for the central nervous system, where it produces a clinical condition called neurocysticercosis.

Development: Patients develop the disease after ingestion of Taenia solium eggs via the fecal-oral route, either by contact with contaminated animals or food, or by human-to-human transmission. In the small intestine, the oncospheres emerge from the eggs and can penetrate the wall until they reach the vascular lumen. They immediately pass into the blood and from there into the tissues, where they mature into cysticerci or cysts. This process is variable and takes between 4 and 8 weeks. Most cysts measure less than 1 cm, although the size is variable, but can range from 1 mm to 2 cm.

Conclusions: Neurocysticercosis is a serious condition, more frequent in the third world, where it constitutes one of the main causes of epilepsy acquired in adulthood, independently of the fact that it can be an incidental finding, a high percentage of those infected can be asymptomatic.