Cysticercosis (i.e., tapeworm infection) is an increasingly common medical problem in the United States, especially in the Southwest and ...Advertisement<< PreviousarticleNextarticle >>Jul1,2007Issue  Cysticercosis:AnEmergingParasiticDisease Thisisacorrectedversionofthearticlethatappearedinprint.ROBERTKRAFT,MD,SmokyHillFamilyMedicineResidencyProgram,Salina,KansasAmFamPhysician. 2007 Jul 1;76(1):91-96. Patientinformation:Seerelatedhandoutoncysticercosis,writtenbytheauthorofthisarticle.AbstractEpidemiologyClinicalFeaturesDiagnosisTreatmentFutureDirectionsReferencesArticleSectionsAbstractEpidemiologyClinicalFeaturesDiagnosisTreatmentFutureDirectionsReferencesCysticercosis(i.e.,tapeworminfection)isanincreasinglycommonmedicalproblemintheUnitedStates,especiallyintheSouthwestandotherareasofheavyemigrationfromendemicareasorinpopulationswithsignificanttraveltotheseareas.Thelarvalstageoftheporktapeworm,Taeniasolium,causestheclinicalsyndromeofcysticercosis,withhumansasdead-endhostsafteringestionofT.soliumeggs.Itsclinicaleffectsvarydependingonsiteoflarvallodging,larvalburden,andhostreaction.Theseeffectsincludeseizures,headaches,focalneurologicsymptoms,visualdisturbances,andlocalizedskeletalmusclenodulesandpain.Cysticercosisshouldbeconsideredinanypatientfromanendemicareapresentingwiththesesymptoms.Treatmentvarieswiththeclinicalpresentation.Parenchymalneurocysticercosisgenerallyistreatedwithalbendazoleinconjunctionwithsteroidstolimitedemaandwithantiepilepticmedicationsforseizurecontrol.Ocularandextraocularmusclecysticercosisgenerallyrequiressurgicalintervention.Skeletalmusclecystsaresurgicallyremovedonlyifpainful.Becausecystscanlodgeinmultiplelocations,allpatientswithcysticercosisshouldhaveanophthalmologicexaminationtoruleoutocularinvolvement,andallpatientswithextraneurologiccysticercosisshouldhavecomputedtomographyormagneticresonanceimagingofthebraintoruleoutneurocysticercosis.Cysticercosis(i.e.,tapeworminfection)isthemostcommonparasiticdiseaseworldwide,withanestimatedprevalence