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Neurocysticercosis is the main cause of adult-onset seizures in the developing world. Whether therapy with antiparasitic agents results in improved seizure control has been questioned because of the lack of adequate, controlled studies.

We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in which 120 patients who had living cysticerci in the brain and seizures treated with antiepileptic drugs were randomly assigned to receive either 800 mg of albendazole per day and 6 mg of dexamethasone per day for 10 days (60 patients) or two placebos (60 patients). The patients were followed for 30 months or until they had been seizure-free for 6 months after the doses of the antiepileptic drugs had been tapered. The efficacy of treatment was measured as the decrease in the number of seizures after treatment.

In the albendazole group, there was a 46 percent reduction in the number of …