Table 3. Selected characteristics of PWE with NCC (defined by a positive serum immunoblot result).
| Variable | Immunoblot-negative PWE | Immunoblot-positive PWE | Difference in proportions (%) | 95%CI | P |
| No. | 165 | 46 | |||
| Female sex (%) | 76 (46.1) | 17 (37.0) | −9.1 | −23.7–7.1 | 0.27 |
| Age at first seizures (years; median, range) | 9.0 (0–47) | 23.5 (1–63) | <0.0001 | ||
| Late onset epilepsy (>25 years of age) (%) | 14 (8.5) | 20 (43.5) | 35.0 | 20.7–50.0 | <0.0001 |
| >1 episode/day of seizures during 6 months (%) | 58/161 (36.0) | 7 (15.2) | −20.8 | −31.9–−6.0 | 0.007 |
| Sphincter disturbance (%) | 101/161 (62.7) | 20/45 (44.4) | −18.3 | −33.5–−2.0 | 0.03 |
| Impaired visual acuity, visual field (%) | 0 | 4 (8.7) | 8.7 | 3.0–20.3 | 0.002 |
| Current treatment (%) | |||||
| Phenobarbital | 56/161 (34.8) | 20 (43.5) | 8.7 | −6.6–24.6 | 0.28 |
| Carbamazepine | 51/161 (31.7) | 12 (26.1) | −5.6 | −18.5–10.1 | 0.47 |
| Valproic acid | 19/161 (11.8) | 8 (17.4) | 5.6 | −4.6–19.5 | 0.32 |
| Phenytoine | 0 | 1 (2.2) | 2.2 | −0.8–11.3 | 0.22 |
| Phenobarbital+Carbamazepine | 22/161 (13.7) | 3 (6.5) | −7.2 | −14.6–4.7 | 0.09 |
| Other | 9/161 (5.6) | 0 | −5.6 | −10.3–2.6 | 0.21 |
| None | 4/161 (2.5) | 2 (4.3) | 1.8 | −3.0–12.2 | 0.62 |
| CT result (%) | |||||
| Not available | 155 (93.9) | 31 (67.4) | −26.5 | −41.2–−13.9 | <0.0001 |
| Normal | 5 (3.0) | 0 | −3.0 | −6.9–4.9 | 0.59 |
| Cystic scolex | 1 (0.6) | 14 (30.4) | 29.8 | 18.2–44.2 | <0.0001 |
| Suggestive* | 2 (1.2) | 1 (2.2) | 1.0 | −2.6–10.2 | 0.52 |
| Compatible# | 1 (0.6) | 0 | −0.6 | −3.4–7.1 | 1.0 |
| Atrophic brain | 1 (0.6) | 0 | −0.6 | −3.4–7.1 | 1.0 |
| Subcutaneous cysts (%) | 0 | 9 (19.6) | 19.6 | 10.4–33.2 | <0.0001 |
| CSF ELISA positive (%) | 0/164 | 5 (10.9) | 10.9 | 4.3–23.0 | 0.0004 |