[Pediatric neurocysticercosis]

Cysticercosis: parasitic disease which affects 3% of the population in Mexico. It is considered that there are more than 50 million infected people in the world, endemic in Mexico, Central and South America, Africa, Asia and India. It is considered the most important neurological infectious disease world-wide for its clinical manifestations. The causal agent in pigs and humans is the cysticercus of the Taenia solium, that can lodge in muscle, brain and ventricles. If pork meat contaminated with cysticercus is eaten, the tapeworm will live in the human intestine and create thousands of eggs that are excreted by the feces. When food contaminated with fecal matter is consumed by man or pig, the cisticercosis is disseminated in several parts of the organism, specially CNS. Man is the only host of the tapeworm and the pig is the only intermediary, reason why the prevalence of the teniasis-cisticercosis depends on this bond. It is diagnosed in endemic zones by the presence of convulsion crises, focal migraine, neurological symptoms, disorders of vision, endocraneal hypertension and CT scan with hypodense zones or cysts with a hyperdense ring. The antiparasitic treatment in children is controversial among pediatricians; it is suggested to use it only in the non calcified cystic phase and in cases associated with epilepsy. Few are the cases of hydrocephalic or intraventricular cysticercus that need surgical treatment.