Short Report: The Importance of Neurocysticercosis in Stroke in Rural Areas of a Developing Latin American Country

Abstract. There is limited information on the prevalence of neurocysticercosis (NCC) among stroke patients, and no community-based survey has addressed this issue.We performed a 3-Phase, population-based study, to assess the prevalence and pathogenesis of stroke in a rural village of coastal Ecuador, where cysticercosis is highly endemic. Twenty stroke patients were found among 642 individuals 40 years of age. Eighteen of these patients underwent neuroimaging studies and no patient had evidence ofNCCor angiitis of intracranial vessels. The serum immunoblot test for the detection of anticysticercal antibodies, performed in 15 of these 20 patients during a previous survey,were negative in 13 cases and the remaining two had a normal computed tomography of the head. This study suggests that NCC is not responsible for the increasing burden of stroke in rural areas of developing countries. Ischemic stroke is a well-known complication of neurocys-ticercosis (NCC) and almost always occurs in patients with the subarachnoid form of the disease.1 In such cases, the inflam-matory reaction surrounding subarachnoid cysticerci induces occlusion or segmental narrowing of medium-size or small perforating arteries arising from the circle of Willis or its major branches.2 Hospital-based registries in endemic area