How to Treat Neurocysticercosis

Neurocysticercosis is any infection of larva in the central nervous system. In common usage, the term specifically refers to the larva of Taenia solium. This pork tapeworm is the most common parasite affecting the central nervous system. Humans are the definitive hosts and ingest the cysts contained in improperly cooked infected pork. Neurocysticercosis is transmitted between humans by the fecal-oral route. The following steps will show how to treat neurocysticercosis.

Instructions

• 1

  Treat simple cases of neurocysticercosis symptomatically. The symptoms are caused by the patient's immune response to a cyst that has died. Cysticidal drugs are not necessary if the infection resulted from a single exposure and reinfection is unlikely.

• 2

  Provide anticonvulsants such as tegretol or dilantin for more complicated cases of neurocysticercosis where the patient is constantly exposed to ova. These drugs are usually successful in controlling seizures.

• 3

  Administer anti-helminthic medication with caution. The use of these drugs is controversial in cases of neurocysticercosis because live cysts may cause few problems. However, once the cyst dies, the patient's immune system causes an inflammatory response to the dead cyst. The typical treatment is with albendazole or praziquantel and should be combined with anti-convulsants.

• 4

  Perform neurosurgery only in cases that do not respond to anti-helminthic medication and are causing severe neurological symptoms. This is most common in cases involving intraventricular cysts. Cysts that are causing hydrocephalus may require a shunt.

• 5

  Consult an ophthalmologist for signs of subretinal cysts. The original source of infection should be identified and avoided.