7 months ago
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Pathogens, Vol. 12, Pages 1205: Neurocysticercosis Diagnosis in a Non-Endemic Country: France
Pathogens doi: 10.3390/pathogens12101205
Authors: Ines Zemmour Marie-Fleur Durieux Etienne Herault Célia Rouges Barbara Šoba Aurélien Mercier Frédéric Ariey Pierre-Marie Preux Hélène Yera on behalf of Collaborators Group on behalf of Collaborators Group
Diagnosing neurocysticercosis (NCC) is difficult due to its variable clinical presentations and the different imaging techniques used to detect brain damage. This study aimed to evaluate the use of cerebrospinal fluid serology and PCR for diagnosing biological neurocysticercosis in a non-endemic country. We tested samples from patients living in France with suspected NCC and confirmed that 45 of the patients presented with the disease. A total of 89% of patients had previously traveled to countries where the disease was endemic. The sensitivity of Western blots compared to ELISA was not significantly different (80% vs. 60%) (p > 0.05), and neither was the sensitivity of Western blots vs. PCR (78% vs. 56%) (p > 0.05). However, the PCR sensitivity was higher in definitive NCC (81%) than in probable NCC (44%; p < 0.05). PCR tests using cerebrospinal fluid should be considered as a diagnostic criterion for identifying NCC.
