Cysticercosis in South India.

A total of 38 cases of human cysticercosis were diagnosed by histopathological examination within a period of 10 years in JIPMER Hospital which serves the population of Pondicherry and adjoining regions of South India. Analysis of our cases showed that there was no sex predilection and 34 of the 38 cases were within the first three decades of life. A curious yet striking feature was that in 37 of the 38 cases the lesions were localized above the level of the umbilicus. Lesions of the subcutaneous tissue formed the largest group with 18 cases. Seventeen of the 38 cases were confined to the eyes, forming the largest series to be reported from India. In six cases there was evidence of brain involvement with postmortem confirmation in three. The JIPMER Hospital records showed a high incidence of epilepsy in this region with a ratio of one out of every four patients attending the neurology clinic. As cerebral cysticercosis is a known cause of epileptiform convulsions, it is suggested that many cases of epilepsy may in fact be due to cerebral cysticercosis. The majority of our patients were drawn from the rural population. We analysed the social customs and related factors which are peculiar to this region and were indirectly responsible for the high incidence of cysticercosis.