Description of medical care received by patients with NCC in two hospitals in Mexico City

Objective

To describe the frequency and type of care received by patients with a diagnosis of neurocysticercosis (NCC) treated at two reference hospitals in Mexico City, Mexico.

Methods

Medical charts of patients diagnosed with NCC and treated at the Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirurgia (INNN) and at the Hospital de Especialidades of the Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS) between January 2002 and June 2008 were reviewed. Data collected included number of visits to specialists, treatment regime, diagnoses and frequency and duration of hospitalizations.

Findings

Medical charts of 295 patients (48% male) were reviewed. Patient histories included 29.5% with epilepsy, 44.4% with hydrocephalus, 44.7% with severe headaches and 37.3% with any type of seizures. The average time under care was 3.1 years (median=2.9) and the average number of outpatient visits per patient-year was 3.2 (median=2.6).

The majority (98%) of patient visits were to a neurologist, with a median of 2.2 visits per patient-year. Average hospitalization was 11.4 days (median=8.0) for the 162 patients hospitalized. Of all patients, 51.6% had ≥1 cerebrospinal fluid test (median=0.7 per year), 67.5% had ≥1 CT scan (median=0.5 per year), 80.5% had ≥1 MRI (median=0.7 per year) and 83.4% had ≥1 neurological examination (median=1.2 per year).

Discussion

NCC is well managed among people receiving care in tertiary hospitals of Mexico. The care of NCC patients involves the use of physician specialists and hospitals’ diagnostic resources. Estimates of NCC’s monetary and non-monetary costs will aide in better understanding the burden that this disease represents for Mexico.