Mendez O, Kanal E, Abu-Elmagd K M, McFadden K, Thomas S, Bond G, Zivković S A
Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Eur J Neurol. 2006 Mar;13(3):292-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2006.01168.x.
A 40-year-old man with multivisceral allograft developed acutely right-sided numbness 9 months after transplantation. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a small left parietal lesion, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis was unremarkable. Stereotactic brain biopsy was non-diagnostic. The patient continued to deteriorate, developed cerebral edema and died at 13 days after the onset of symptoms. Unexpectedly, autopsy demonstrated acanthamebic encephalitis. This case highlights diagnostic difficulties encountered with amebic encephalitis and expands the spectrum of opportunistic central nervous system (CNS) infections in solid and visceral organ transplant recipients.
