RESUMO Antecedentes: O fardo da mortalidade prematura associada à cisticercose humana é amplamente ignorado, principalmente devido à má manutenção de registros nas regiões endêmicas de Taenia solium. Objetivo: Documentar as características de mortalidade e sobrevivência de uma coorte histórica com cisticercose. Métodos: Os anos de início dos sintomas e morte até 1957 foram extraídos de relatórios publicados de uma coorte militar britânica (n = 450) examinada em Londres no início do século XX. Os dados foram inseridos em uma análise de sobrevida de Kaplan Meier com a presença (ou ausência) de manifestações clínicas como variáveis independentes, que foram então ajustadas em um modelo de risco proporcional de Cox para determinar sua significância. Resultados: A cisticercose foi responsável por 24 (52,2%) de 46 óbitos nos primeiros 15 anos de seguimento em comparação com 7 (19,4%) de 36 óbitos nos 20-40 anos de seguimento. Nas análises univariadas e de Cox, hipertensão intracraniana (razão de risco [HR]: 8,26; IC: 4,71, 14,49), cisticercose ocular (HR: 6,60; IC: 3,04, 14,33) e transtorno mental (HR: 3,98; IC: 2,22 , 7,13), mas não epilepsia (HR: 0,66; IC: 0,20, 2,18) foram associados com mortalidade. Mais da metade de todas as mortes nos primeiros 15 anos de acompanhamento foram atribuídas à cisticercose. Conclusões: Várias mortes ocorreram logo após a aquisição da infecção cisticercótica. Hipertensão intracraniana, cisticercose ocular e transtorno mental, mas não epilepsia, foram preditores de mortalidade nesta coorte.

ABSTRACT Background: The burden of premature mortality associated with human cysticercosis is largely ignored mainly due to poor record-keeping in Taenia solium endemic regions. Objective: To document mortality and survival characteristics of an historical cohort with cysticercosis. Methods: The years of onset of symptoms and death untill 1957 were extracted from published reports of a British military cohort (n=450) examined in London in the early twentieth century. Data were entered into a Kaplan Meier survival analysis with the presence (or absence) of clinical manifestations as independent variables, which were then fitted into a Cox proportional hazards model to determine their significance. Results: Cysticercosis was responsible for 24 (52.2%) of 46 deaths in the first 15 years of follow-up in comparison to 7 (19.4%) of 36 deaths in the 20-40 years of follow-up period. In the univariate and Cox analyses, intracranial hypertension (hazard ratio [HR]: 8.26; CI: 4.71, 14.49), ocular cysticercosis (HR: 6.60; CI: 3.04, 14.33), and mental disorder (HR: 3.98; CI: 2.22, 7.13) but not epilepsy (HR: 0.66; CI: 0.20, 2.18) were associated with mortality. Over half of all deaths in the first 15 years of follow-up were attributed to cysticercosis. Conclusions: Several deaths occurred early after acquiring cysticercotic infection. Intracranial hypertension, ocular cysticercosis, and mental disorder but not epilepsy were predictors of mortality in this cohort.

RESUMO Antecedentes: O fardo da mortalidade prematura associada à cisticercose humana é amplamente ignorado, principalmente devido à má manutenção de registros nas regiões endêmicas de Taenia solium. Objetivo: Documentar as características de mortalidade e sobrevivência de uma coorte histórica com cisticercose. Métodos: Os anos de início dos sintomas e morte até 1957 foram extraídos de relatórios publicados de uma coorte militar britânica (n = 450) examinada em Londres no início do século XX. Os dados foram inseridos em uma análise de sobrevida de Kaplan Meier com a presença (ou ausência) de manifestações clínicas como variáveis independentes, que foram então ajustadas em um modelo de risco proporcional de Cox para determinar sua significância. Resultados: A cisticercose foi responsável por 24 (52,2%) de 46 óbitos nos primeiros 15 anos de seguimento em comparação com 7 (19,4%) de 36 óbitos nos 20-40 anos de seguimento. Nas análises univariadas e de Cox, hipertensão intracraniana (razão de risco [HR]: 8,26; IC: 4,71, 14,49), cisticercose ocular (HR: 6,60; IC: 3,04, 14,33) e transtorno mental (HR: 3,98; IC: 2,22 , 7,13), mas não epilepsia (HR: 0,66; IC: 0,20, 2,18) foram associados com mortalidade. Mais da metade de todas as mortes nos primeiros 15 anos de acompanhamento foram atribuídas à cisticercose. Conclusões: Várias mortes ocorreram logo após a aquisição da infecção cisticercótica. Hipertensão intracraniana, cisticercose ocular e transtorno mental, mas não epilepsia, foram preditores de mortalidade nesta coorte.

ABSTRACT Background: The burden of premature mortality associated with human cysticercosis is largely ignored mainly due to poor record-keeping in Taenia solium endemic regions. Objective: To document mortality and survival characteristics of an historical cohort with cysticercosis. Methods: The years of onset of symptoms and death untill 1957 were extracted from published reports of a British military cohort (n=450) examined in London in the early twentieth century. Data were entered into a Kaplan Meier survival analysis with the presence (or absence) of clinical manifestations as independent variables, which were then fitted into a Cox proportional hazards model to determine their significance. Results: Cysticercosis was responsible for 24 (52.2%) of 46 deaths in the first 15 years of follow-up in comparison to 7 (19.4%) of 36 deaths in the 20-40 years of follow-up period. In the univariate and Cox analyses, intracranial hypertension (hazard ratio [HR]: 8.26; CI: 4.71, 14.49), ocular cysticercosis (HR: 6.60; CI: 3.04, 14.33), and mental disorder (HR: 3.98; CI: 2.22, 7.13) but not epilepsy (HR: 0.66; CI: 0.20, 2.18) were associated with mortality. Over half of all deaths in the first 15 years of follow-up were attributed to cysticercosis. Conclusions: Several deaths occurred early after acquiring cysticercotic infection. Intracranial hypertension, ocular cysticercosis, and mental disorder but not epilepsy were predictors of mortality in this cohort.

ABSTRACT Atrial myxomas are rare primary cardiac tumours with neurological manifestations being reported in 30% of cases. Though a rare cause of ischemic stroke in young patients, considering it as a possibility in absence of any obvious risk factors can help avoid misdiagnosis at early stages. We present a case of left atrial myxoma in a 36-year-old male with no known co-morbidities, showing an unusual clinical presentation of isolated bilateral painless vision loss. With multiple infarcts on Non Contrast Computerised Tomography (NCCT) and a suspicion of Atrial Myxoma on Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE), patient was successfully managed surgically with confirmation of diagnosis on histopathology.

RESUMO A neurocisticercose é um dos mais comuns fatores de risco para a epilepsia, mas sua associação com a epilepsia resistente a medicamentos (DRE) permanece incerta. Conjecturas de uma associação com a DRE têm sido alimentadas por relatos de uma associação entre lesões de neurocisticercose calcária (CNL) e esclerose hipocampal (HS) de centros especializados em epilepsia em regiões endêmicas de Taenia solium. O debate que surge desses relatórios é se a associação é causal. Se bem as evidências para a associação não são de alta qualidade, são suficientemente persuasivas para merecer mais investigação com estudos longitudinais de imagens em amostras de base populacional de regiões geograficamente diversas. O outro ponto controverso é a escolha da abordagem cirúrgica para a DRE associada à CNL-HS. Três abordagens têm sido descritas: lobectomia temporal ântero-mesial padrão, lesionectomia envolvendo apenas CNL e lesionectomia com lobectomia temporal ântero-mesial (para patologia dupla); os relatórios das duas últimas abordagens são limitados. A avaliação pré-cirúrgica deve considerar as possibilidades de delinear a (s) zona (s) epileptogênica (s) de acordo com as três abordagens.

ABSTRACT Neurocysticercosis is one of the most common risk factors for epilepsy but its association with drug-resistant epilepsy remains uncertain. Conjectures of an association with drug-resistant epilepsy have been fueled by reports of an association between calcific neurocysticercosis lesions (CNL) and hippocampal sclerosis (HS) from specialized epilepsy centers in Taenia solium-endemic regions. The debate arising from these reports is whether the association is causal. Evidence for the association is not high quality but sufficiently persuasive to merit further investigation with longitudinal imaging studies in population-based samples from geographically-diverse regions. The other controversial point is the choice of a surgical approach for drug-resistant epilepsy associated with CNL-HS. Three approaches have been described: standard anteromesial temporal lobectomy, lesionectomy involving a CNL alone and lesionectomy with anteromesial temporal lobectomy (for dual pathology); reports of the latter two approaches are limited. Presurgical evaluation should consider possibilities of delineating the epileptogenic zone/s in accordance with all three approaches.

A case of extensive chromoblastomycosis of the right leg and thigh with verruciform to nodular lesions evolving rapidly over five years duration is reported. The diagnosis was confirmed by visualizing pathognomonic pigmented muriform bodies with unique septate hyphae and mycological culture yielding Fonsecaea pedrosoi.

Neurocysticercosis is an important public health problem in South-Central America and South Asia. A review of the differences in epidemiological and clinical attributes of cysticercosis and taeniasis in South Central America and India, respectively, is undertaken in the present communication. Intestinal taeniasis is hyperendemic in several American countries. In comparison, the prevalence of Taenia solium infestation is lower in India. The clinical manifestations in several American neurocysticercosis series comprise epilepsy, intracranial hypertension and meningeal - racemose cysticercosis, in roughly equal proportions. An overwhelming majority of the Indian subjects present with seizures. The commonest pathological substrate of the disorder in Indian patients is the solitary parenchymal degenerating cyst. The reasons for the predominance of solitary forms in India, and of multilesional forms in South Central America are discussed. The magnitude of Taenia solium infestation and the frequency of pork consumption in a given population appear to influence the quantum of cyst load in affected individuals.