Abstract. Relatively little is known about the occurrence of neurocysticercosis in northeastern Brazil. There have been no published reports from the state of Ceará, but a review of the records at the Hospital São José in Fortaleza, Brazil identified 119 patients with neurocysticercosis diagnosed between January 1988 and April 1994. Patients came from 43 municipalities in Ceará. Their ages ranged from five to 74 years; the greatest number of cases were in persons 10-40 years of age; 63% were males. Seizures were the presenting complaint in 64% of the patients and headache in 22%. Two patients, each with several hundred intracranial lesions, presented with mental status changes; one was initially given the clinical diagnosis of viral meningoencephalitis. Computed tomography scans showed that 44% of the patients had five or more lesions. Cysts were found throughout the brain. The parietal lobe was the most frequent site of involvement; 85% of patients had one or more lesions there. The brain stem was involved in 8%. There was no consistent association between the severity of the clinical abnormalities and the radiologic findings. Computed tomography of the thighs was done in 10 persons; cysts were identified in nine.Cysticercosis is an important health problem throughout Latin America from Mexico to Peru, 1-4 but relatively little is known about its impact in northeastern Brazil. The disease is found in developing areas where pigs are raised and sanitation is poor. 5 Transmission occurs when humans ingest ova in food or water that has been contaminated with feces from humans who harbor adult Taenia solium. Ova excyst in the intestine releasing larvae that invade and form tissue cysts (cysticeri) in brain, muscle, eye, or other tissues.Involvement of the central nervous system results in neurocysticercosis, an important cause of seizures and other neurologic abnormalities among residents of endemic areas. Neurocysticercosis is encountered in the United States among immigrants from endemic areas. 6 Cases of cysticercosis have also been reported among residents of North America who have never visited endemic areas, but who have been exposed to immigrants infected with adult T. solium. [6][7][8] As this series illustrates, neurocysticercosis is an important cause of morbidity in northeastern Brazil. METHODSThe records of the Hospital São José, located in Fortaleza in the state of Ceará were reviewed for the period January 1988 through April 1994 to identify cases of neurocysticercosis. Patients were included in the study if they had neurologic symptoms or signs and a head computed tomography (CT) scan that documented single or multiple cystic lesions in the brain, with or without contrast enhancement; if there were enhancing nodular lesions; if there were small calcified lesions; or if there was a combination of the these findings (Figure 1). In 13 (11%) cases the diagnosis was confirmed by biopsy. Serological studies were not routinely performed. The age and sex of the patients, their home municipalities, their prese...

Background Zygomatic implants (ZI) have been frequently indicated to rehabilitate patients with extensive atrophies in alternatives to major bone reconstructions. It can be installed inside the maxillary sinus, called instrasinus zygomatic implant (IZI) or outside the maxillary sinus (EZI), depending on the surgery technique. Objective To evaluate the survival and complication rates of ZI in longitudinal studies when compared with conventional implants (CI). Methods An electronic search was performed in five databases and in Gray literature for articles published until April, 2022. The eligibility criteria comprised observational cohort studies (prospective or retrospective) and randomized clinical trials (RCTs) with at least 5 years of follow‐up, reporting survival rate of ZI versus CI. A meta‐analysis was conduct with 18 studies. Results A total of 5434 implants (2972 ZI and 2462 CI) were analyzed in 1709 patients. The mean survival rate was 96.5% ± 5.02 and 95.8% ± 6.36 for ZI and CI, respectively (mean follow‐up time of 78 months). There were observed no statistically significant between ZI and CI in prospective studies (risk ratio [RR] of 1.21; 95% confidence intervals [CIs]: 0.28 to 5.28; chi‐squared [Chi2] = 11.37; I2 = 56%; degrees of freedom [df] = 5; z‐score = 0.25; P = 0.80), retrospective studies IZI (RR of 1.29; 95% CIs: 0.52 to 3.23; Chi2 = 4.07; I2 = 2%; df = 4; z‐score = 0.55; P = 0.58) and retrospective studies EZI (RR of 0.72; 95% CIs: 0.31 to 1.66; Chi2 = 1.99; I2 = 0%; df = 3; z‐score = 0.78; P = 0.44). The biological complications most related to ZI was sinusitis, followed by infection and oroantral communication. Conclusion ZI have a high long‐term survival rate (96.5% with a mean of 91.5 months of follow‐up), showing no significant difference when compared with CI. The most prevalent biological complication is sinusitis, being most commonly to the IZI technique. This systematic review (SR) was registered in INPLASY under number INPLASY202280025.