Albendazole Therapy for Neurocysticercosis

To the Editor. —I have read with interest the article by Alarcón et al,1as it showed that the length of albendazole therapy for parenchymal brain cysticercosis could be considerably shortened without lessening its efficacy. The authors did not state, however, how the 3-day course of albendazole treatment was chosen. Was it chosen on an empirical basis? If so, a larger number of patients was needed to support their findings. Albendazole is an imidazole with intense antiparasitic properties that has largely replaced praziquantel as the drug of choice for parenchymal brain cysticercosis.2-4The initial length of 30 days of albendazole therapy for neurocysticercosis5was settled according to that previously used for the treatment of human hydatidosis.6When treating patients with cysticercosis, however, two observations suggested that the therapeutic effect of the drug occurred far before the full course of 30 days was completed: first, most patients