Disseminated Balamuthia mandrillaris amoeba infection in an AIDS patient from Brazil
Silva-Vergara, M.L.ón.; Da Cunha Colombo, E.R.; De Figueiredo Vissotto, E.; Silva, A.C.A.új.L.; Chica, J.E.L.; Etchebehere, R.M.; Adad, S.J.
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 77(6): 1096-1098
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9637 PMID: 18165529 Document Number: 611189
This report describes a 32-year-old male AIDS patient. He presented with a clinical picture characterized by severe headache, blurred vision, and fever that had lasted for 10 days. At admission, no remarkable neurologic abnormalities were observed. Cranial tomography showed a ring-enhanced lesion with edema and a mass effect in the right occipital lobe. The initial diagnosis was toxoplasmosis, and treatment of this was administered. However, 5 days later, the patient's clinical status worsened and he died. The necropsy showed necrotizing and hemorrhagic encephalitis, with trophozoites similar to an amoeba species. Furthermore, the kidneys, adrenal glands, thyroid gland, and liver were also involved. The amoeba Balamuthia mandrillaris was identified by an immunofluorescence test.