Twenty seven cases of neurocysticercosis with clinical picture of acute meningitis

Abstract

Twenty seven cases of neurocysticercosis, with clinical picture of acute meningitis, are described. Twenty (74.1%) patients are male; the age was 4 to 42 years (23.6 ±11.7 years). The etiologic diagnosis was defined by the complement fixation test (Weinberg) and/ or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for cysticercosis in the cerebrospinal fluid (c. s. f.). Six patients that realized cranial computerized tomographic scan ressembling neurocysticercosis. Twenty one (77.8%) have predominancy of lymphomononuclear cells in the c. s. f. obtained in the admission to the hospital; in 6 (22.2%) there were predominancy of polymorphonuclear neutrophils. In this c. s. f. there were eosinosis in four patients that have c. s. f. lymphomononuclear pleocytosis and in three that have c. s. f. neutrophyl pleocytosis, suggesting the diagnosis of neurocysticercosis. The treatment of acute neurocysticercosis was made with dexamethasone. All the patients survived and were transfered to the ambulatory of Neurology for follow-up and complementary treatment