Neurocysticercosis: Likelihood Ratios

Introduction: Neurocysticercosis is a preventable parasitic infection of the central nervous system and is caused by the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. Humans become infected after consuming undercooked food, particularly pork, or water contaminated with tapeworm eggs, or through poor hygiene practices.

The lack of specificity of the neurological symptoms makes it impossible to diagnose the disease on clinical grounds alone.

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Prevalence

The likelihood ratios of findings for Neurocysticercosis are listed below. See the left navigation bar to change the display.

Good Positive and Negative Likelihood Ratios

Finding	+LR	-LR	Comments, Study
Taenia solium PCR in CSF	inf	0.3	PCR may be particularly helpful for diagnosing extraparenchymal NC when neuroimaging techniques have failed. Sensitivity: 95% CI 54.8%–85.8% Specificity: 95% CI 90.3%–100.0% Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5241005/