Neurología : publicación oficial de la Sociedad Española de Neurología
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Cysticercosis occurs when humans become intermediate hosts of Taenia solium after ingesting its eggs. It is the most common helminthic infection of the nervous system, and is endemic in Latin America, Asia and Africa, as well as in industrialized nations with a high immigrant influx of people coming from endemic areas. Neurocysticercosis is a pleomorphic disease due to individual differences in the number and location of the parasites within the nervous system as well as to differences in the severity of the host's immune reaction against the parasite. ⋯ Cysticidal drugs (albendazole and praziquantel) have improved the prognosis of this condition. However, some patients have torpid clinical courses despite therapy. Surgery plays an important role in the management of some forms of the disease, particularly hydrocephalus and intraventricular cysts.