ArticleInfection2023
Efficacy and safety of antiparasitic therapy for neurocysticercosis in rural Tanzania: a prospective cohort study.
Article in Infection, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03834337 (Characteristics of Patients With Symptomatic Active Neurocysticercosis and Effect of Treatment on Symptoms, Lesions and Quality of Life in Resource-poor Rural Areas of Eastern Africa - TOPANA, a Multi-centre Prospective Cohort Study.), which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Characteristics of Patients With Symptomatic Active Neurocysticercosis and Effect of Treatment on Symptoms, Lesions and Quality of Life in Resource-poor Rural Areas of Eastern Africa - TOPANA, a Multi-centre Prospective Cohort Study.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Treatment Outcome in Patients with Disseminated Cysticercosis: A Systematic Review of Case Reports and Case Series.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Pooled it
- Three decades of neurocysticercosis mandatory notification in a Brazilian endemic region: clinical evolution and severity patterns.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2026Article
- Taenia solium neurocysticercosis: Its current epidemiological, diagnostic, therapeutic, and control landscapes.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Review
- Cysticercosis and neurocysticercosis in people from Mocuba district, Zambézia province: A Mozambican community-based study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Racemose Neurocysticercosis Presenting As Vasculitic Infarct and Obstructive Hydrocephalus: A Rare Presentation.Cureus · 2025Article
- Cytokine profiles and CD4 counts in HIV-positive individuals with cysticercosis: implications for sex-specific immune responses in co-endemic regions of Tanzania.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- Helminthic larval stage induces cellular apoptosis via caspase 9-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- The performance of a point-of-care test for the diagnosis of Neurocysticercosis in a resource-poor community setting in Zambia - a diagnostic accuracy study.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Article
- Neurocysticercosis Prevalence and Characteristics in Communities of Sinda District in Zambia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2024Article
- Report of three patients with extensive neurocysticercosis in rural southern Tanzania: neurological, serological and neuroradiological findings.Journal of medical case reports · 2023Article
- Standardizing an Experimental Murine Model of Extraparenchymal Neurocysticercosis That Immunologically Resembles Human Infection.Brain sciences · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
19 authors at 12 institutions in 8 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeNeurocysticercosis is common in regions endemic for Taenia solium. Active-stage neurocysticercosis can be treated with antiparasitic medication, but so far no study on efficacy and safety has been conducted in Africa.
methodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study on treatment of neurocysticercosis in Tanzania between August 2018 and January 2022. Patients were initially treated with albendazole (15 mg/kg/d) for 10 days and followed up for 6 months. Additionally in July 2021, all participants who then still had cysts were offered a combination therapy consisting of albendazole (15 mg/kg/d) and praziquantel (50 mg/kg/d). Antiparasitic treatment was accompanied by corticosteroid medication and anti-seizure medication if the patient had experienced epileptic seizures before treatment.
resultsSixty-three patients were recruited for this study, of whom 17 had a complete follow-up after albendazole monotherapy. These patients had a total of 138 cysts at baseline, of which 58 (42%) had disappeared or calcified by the end of follow-up. The median cyst reduction was 40% (interquartile range 11-63%). Frequency of epileptic seizures reduced considerably (p < 0.001). Three patients had all active cysts resolved or calcified and of the remaining 14, eight received the combination therapy which resolved 63 of 66 cysts (95%). Adverse events were infrequent and mild to moderate during both treatment cycles.
conclusionCyst resolution was unsatisfactory with albendazole monotherapy but was very high when it was followed by a combination of albendazole and praziquantel.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.