Trial reportEpilepsia2014
Enhanced steroid dosing reduces seizures during antiparasitic treatment for cysticercosis and early after.
Trial report in Epilepsia, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Diagnosis and Treatment of Neurocysticercosis: 2017 Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2018Guideline
- Diagnosis and Treatment of Neurocysticercosis: 2017 Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2018Guideline
- Distinguishing neurocysticercosis epilepsy from epilepsy of unknown etiology using a minimal serum mass profiling platform.Experimental parasitology · 2018Trial
- Taenia solium neurocysticercosis: Its current epidemiological, diagnostic, therapeutic, and control landscapes.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Review
- Calcified Neurocysticercosis: Understanding Dead (Not Necessarily Inactive) Parasites.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2025Review
- Increased Prevalence of Antibodies to Hepatitis E Virus in Patients with Neurocysticercosis.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Disseminated cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis with classic starry-sky appearance in an adolescent vegetarian Indian male.IDCases · 2024Article
- Article
- Frequency and Determinant Factors for Calcification in Neurocysticercosis.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2021Article
- Neglected Parasitic Infections: What Family Physicians Need to Know-A CDC Update.American family physician · 2021Article
- Mortality in Parenchymal and Subarachnoid Neurocysticercosis.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2021Article
- Unique Characteristics of Epilepsy Development in Neurocysticercosis.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2020Review
- Taenia solium Cysticercosis and Its Impact in Neurological Disease.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2020Review
- Article
- Etanercept to Control Inflammation in the Treatment of Complicated Neurocysticercosis.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2019Observational
- Controlling the Host Response in Neurocysticercosis.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2019Article
- Clinical topography relationship in patients with parenchymal neurocysticercosis and seizures.Epilepsy research · 2018Article
- Human Extraparenchymal Neurocysticercosis: The Control of Inflammation Favors the Host…but Also the Parasite.Frontiers in immunology · 2018Article
- Taenia solium cysticercosis and taeniosis: Achievements from the past 10 years and the way forward.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2017Article
- Disease Centered Around Calcified Taenia solium Granuloma.Trends in parasitology · 2017Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveNeurocysticercosis (NCC) is a major cause of seizures and epilepsy in endemic countries. Antiparasitic treatment of brain cysts leads to seizures due to the host's inflammatory reaction, requiring concomitant steroids. We hypothesized that increased steroid dosing will reduce treatment-associated seizures.
methodsOpen-label randomized trial comparing 6 mg/day dexamethasone for 10 days (conventional) with 8 mg/day for 28 days followed by a 2-week taper (enhanced) in patients with NCC receiving albendazole. Follow-up included active seizure surveillance and brain imaging. Study outcomes were seizure days and patients with seizures, both measured in days 11-42. Additional analyses compared days 1-10, 11-21, 22-32, 33-42, 43-60, and 61-180.
resultsThirty-two individuals were randomized into each study arm; two did not complete follow-up. From days 11 to 42, 59 partial and 6 generalized seizure days occurred in 20 individuals, nonsignificantly fewer in the enhanced arm (12 vs. 49, p = 0.114). The numbers of patients with seizures in this period showed similar nonsignificant differences. In the enhanced steroid arm there were significantly fewer days and individuals with seizures during antiparasitic treatment (days 1-10: 4 vs. 17, p = 0.004, and 1 vs. 10, p = 0.003, number needed to treat [NNT] 4.6, relative risk [RR] 0.1013, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.01-0.74) and early after dexamethasone cessation (days 11-21: 6 vs. 27, p = 0.014, and 4 vs. 12, p = 0.021, NNT 4.0, RR 0.33, 95% CI 0.12-0.92) but not after day 21. There were no significant differences in antiparasitic efficacy or relevant adverse events. SIGNIFICANCE: Increased dexamethasone dosing results in fewer seizures for the first 21 days during and early after antiparasitic treatment for viable parenchymal NCC but not during the first 11-42 days, which was the primary predetermined time of analysis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.