Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan Province, China.
The Third Affiliated Hospital of Dali University, Dali, Yunnan province, China.
Parasites Hosts Dis. 2023 May;61(2):183-193. doi: 10.3347/PHD.23039. Epub 2023 May 23.
Balamuthia mandrillaris amebic encephalitis (BAE) can cause a fatal condition if diagnosis is delayed or effective treatment is lacking. Patients with BAE have been previously reported in 12 provinces of China, with skin lesions being the primary symptom and encephalitis developing after several years. However, a significantly lower number of cases has been reported in Southwest China. Here we report an aggressive BAE case of a 64-year-old woman farmer with a history of skin lesions on her left hand. She was admitted to our hospital due to symptoms of dizziness, headache, cough, vomiting, and gait instability. She was initially diagnosed with syphilitic meningoencephalitis and received a variety of empirical treatment that failed to improve her symptoms. Finally, she was diagnosed with BAE combined with amebic pneumonia using next-generation sequencing (NGS), qRT-PCR, sequence analysis, and imaging studies. She died approximately 3 weeks after the onset. This case highlights that the rapid development of encephalitis can be a prominent clinical manifestation of Balamuthia mandrillaris infection.
狒狒巴拉姆希阿米巴脑炎（BAE）如果诊断延误或缺乏有效治疗，可能导致致命后果。中国已有 12 个省份报告过 BAE 患者，其主要症状为皮肤损伤，数年后发展为脑炎。然而，西南地区报告的病例明显较少。本研究报告了一例来自中国西南地区的 64 岁女性农民的侵袭性 BAE 病例，该患者左手有皮肤损伤病史。她因头晕、头痛、咳嗽、呕吐和步态不稳而被收入我院。她最初被诊断为梅毒性脑膜脑炎，并接受了多种经验性治疗，但症状并未改善。最终，通过下一代测序（NGS）、qRT-PCR、序列分析和影像学研究，她被确诊为 BAE 合并阿米巴性肺炎。她大约在发病后 3 周死亡。该病例强调了脑炎的快速发展可能是狒狒巴拉姆希阿米巴感染的突出临床表现。
