Surgical treatment of epilepsy caused by brain parasites

  Common parasitic encephalopathies that invade the central nervous system and cause secondary epilepsy include: cerebral cysticercosis, cerebral echinococcosis, cerebral pulmonary schistosomiasis, cerebral schistosomiasis and cerebral schistosomiasis.  Internal drug deworming is the main treatment, however, once the parasite causes intractable epilepsy or forms an occupying lesion or hydrocephalus in the brain, surgery is an essential treatment.  The incidence of epilepsy due to intracranial parasitic infections: Cysticercus cerebri: 60%-80%. 43-76% of patients have epilepsy as the first symptom and about 30% have epilepsy as the only symptom.  Echinococcus cerebri: 50%.  Cerebral pulmonary schistosomiasis: 80%.  Schistosomiasis cerebri: more than 80%.  Cerebral schistosomiasis: 90%.  The parasite survives as a focal change in the skull, causing cortical damage and some inflammatory reactive stimuli, resulting in abnormal brain cell discharge causing seizures.  2. After the worm body wanders away, the original parasitic area forms atrophy, deformation and calcification, causing seizures.  3. After the death of the worm, it can calcify, and exist as a foreign body in the brain tissue for a long time, causing neurogliosis.  Pre-surgical evaluation of brain parasites causing epilepsy 1. Imaging combined with symptoms of neurological deficits to determine the location of intracranial lesions; 2. Provide evidence of abnormally high local excitability in the lesion area; 3. Determine the non-verbal and motor functional areas of the lesion.  Surgical methods: 1.Excision of parasitic lesions only; 2.Excision of parasitic lesions and surrounding tissues; 3.Excision of parasitic lesions and epileptic foci; 4.Excision of epileptic foci without excision of parasitic lesions (located in functional areas).