Discontinuation of antiepileptic drugs in patients with calcified neurocysticercosis

Antiepileptic drugs (AEDS) were tapered in 30 patients with calcified neurocysticercosis who had been seizure-free for 2 years. Patients were classified in two groups. Group I included 15 patients who initially had parenchymal brain cysts that were transformed into calcifications after a trial with albendazole, and group II included 15 patients in whom parenchymal cysts were spontaneously transformed into calcifications as the result of the host's immunological attack. There was no significant differences in age, sex, number of seizures before admission, type of seizures, or number of cysts on initial computed tomography (CT) scans between group I and group II patients. The patients were followed prospectively from the time of diagnosis until 12 months after AED discontinuation. By the end of the study, 13 (86.7%) of group I and 12 (80%) of group II patients had a relapse (p = NS), suggesting that the risk of relapse is not related to previous treatment of parenchymal brain cysts with albendazole.