1/40. Disseminated adenovirus infection in two premature infants.We present two premature infants with disseminated neonatal adenovirus infection, whose epidemiology, clinical course and outcome differ to a great extent. The first infant, born vaginally at 35 weeks gestational age after premature rupture of membranes and maternal illness, developed pneumonia, hepatitis and coagulopathy and died of circulatory failure at the age of 17 days. The other infant, delivered by cesarean section at 36 weeks gestational age, did - in contrast to all documented cases in the literature - not show any signs of pneumonia and survived meningitis without sequelae. The mode of transmission of the viral infection may have been via the maternal birth canal in the first infant and transplacental in the second one. diagnosis was obtained by direct immunofluorescent test and serology in the first patient and by maternal serology and the detection of viral antigen in tracheal aspirates (ELISA) in the second patient. Disseminated neonatal adenovirus infection has a high mortality and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of neonatal sepsis, especially when pneumonia, hepatitis and neurologic symptoms develop together with thrombocytopenia or disseminated intravascular coagulopathy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/40. Cryptococcal meningitis: diagnostic value of cryptococcal antigen in cerebrospinal fluid.In three previously reported cases of cryptococcal meningitis, the only laboratory evidence for this diagnosis was the presence of cryptococcal antigen in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Three additional patients had chronic meningitis and repeatedly negative CSF cultures and had cryptococcal antigen demonstrated in the CSF. In our patients, the diagnosis was further supported by the complete recovery after amphotericin b therapy in two and the demonstration of cryptococcus neoformans in the meninges at autopsy in the third. In certain patients with chronic meningitis, the detection of cryptococcal antigen in the CSF may be the only means of establishing a diagnosis during life. In such patients, if cryptococcal antigen is present in the CSF in a titer of larger than or equal to 1:8, antifungal therapy should be initiated, pending results of other diagnostic studies.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 8keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/40. Case report. recurrence of increased intracranial pressure with antiretroviral therapy in an AIDS patient with cryptococcal meningitis.We present the case of an AIDS patient with cryptococcal meningitis who, after an excellent clinical and mycological response to antifungal therapy, developed an exacerbation of signs and symptoms, including elevated intracranial pressure and an increase in cerebrospinal fluid cryptococcal antigen and white blood cells, following the initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Cultures yielded no growth and the patient responded to repeated lumbar punctures without changing or intensifying antifungal therapy. To our knowledge, this is the first report of symptomatic elevated intracranial pressure occurring during HAART-related immune recovery in a patient with cryptococcal meningitis. Exacerbation of symptoms does not necessarily reflect mycological failure that requires a change in antifungal therapy, but may relate to acutely increased intracranial pressure that will respond to simple measures, such as repeated lumbar punctures.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/40. Naegleria meningitis: a rare survival.Acute amebic meningoencephalitis caused by free-living amebae naegleria fowleri is extremely rare and uniformly fatal with only seven survivals reported till date. An interesting case of naegleria meningitis diagnosed by wet mount cytology of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and treated with amphoterecin B, rifampicin and ornidazole with complete recovery is presented. In cases of suspected pyogenic meningitis, if CSF staining, antigen detection or culture is negative for bacteria, a wet mount cytology of CSF for naegleria is suggested. Early treatment with amphoterecin B and rifampicin may improve survival.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/40. Failure of dithiothreitol and pronase to reveal a false-positive cryptococcal antigen determination in cerebrospinal fluid.A patient with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and a serum rheumatoid factor (RF) of 1:1,280 had a positive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) latex agglutination test (LAT) for cryptococcal antigen, in culture-negative, india-ink-negative CSF. Pretreatment of the sample of CSF with 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME) ablated the antigen titer and established the presence of a false-positive LAT, whereas CSF pretreated with dithiothreitol (DTT) and pronase continued to yield a false-positive result. The differing ability of pronase, DTT, and 2-ME to eliminate interfering substances from CSF has not been previously described. Moreover, because RF is unlikely to cross the blood-brain barrier, the authors postulated that malignant disease was responsible for the patient's false-positive LAT in CSF. Hence, the authors report the case to emphasize that false-positive LAT results in CSF are unlikely to be produced by RF and to underscore the benefit of using enzymatic and sulfhydryl-reducing agents when the validity of the initial test results are in doubt. Such a procedure will optimize the chances of accurately identifying false-positive LAT results in CSF.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/40. Treatment of cryptococcal meningitis with five anti-fungal drugs: the role of amphotericin b.Experiments are described of the treatment of two patients with cryptococcal meningitis using antifungal drugs and amphotericin b. The first patient was a 56-year-old man with a slight azotaemia caused by hypertensive nephrosclerosis. Lumbar puncture revealed a positive india ink stain and a positive culture for cryptococcus neoformans; serum titre for cryptococcal antigen was elevated. amphotericin b was not administered because of the patient's slight azotaemia. After admission, the patient received oral and intravenous fluconazole (400 mg per day), for a total dose of 40 g of fluconazole over 103 days from October 1 while simultaneously receiving treatment with oral itraconazole (200 mg per day) from October 1 to December 5. In addition, he was given intravenous miconazole (600-1000 mg per day, total 74.4 g) and intrathecal miconazole (5-20 mg per day, total 375 mg) from December 1 to March 4 1990. Concomitantly, oral flucytosine (6 g per day) was given from December 5 to March 1 1990. Lumbar puncture performed at the completion of these treatments indicated the india ink stain still was positive and the serum titre for cryptococcal antigen high. Finally, amphotericin b alone was administered to the patient intravenously and intrathecally from March 4 to May 1, with an initial dose of 5 mg i.v. gradually increasing by 5 mg increments up to 50 mg per day. The patient's clinical symptoms immediately improved; the india ink stain became negative for the first time after admission and the serum titre for cryptococcal antigen also gradually decreased. On May 1, the patient was completely cured of cryptococcal meningitis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 3keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/40. neisseria lactamica meningitis following skull trauma.A woman developed meningitis due to neisseria lactamica in association with a cribriform plate fracture. cerebrospinal fluid antigen tests for neisseria meningitidis were negative. The patient recovered with intravenous penicillin therapy. N. lactamica can be rapidly distinguished from N. meningitidis by the hydrolysis of ONPG (o-nitrophenyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside). In contrast to N. meningitidis and neisseria gonorrhoeae, N. lactamica lacks virulence properties. As 100% of N. lactamica strains are susceptible to penicillin and all three previously described patients with N. lactamica meningitis have recovered with penicillin treatment, the reason for distinguishing the organisms in this context is primarily to prevent unnecessary anxiety and prophylaxis among contacts.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/40. cerebrospinal fluid indices in cryptococcal and tuberculous meningitis: the spider web coagulum and its diagnostic significance.The differentiation between a chronic cryptococcal meningitis and a chronic tuberculous meningitis may cause problems for the clinician only if standard microbiological methods are not applied to the diagnosis of both infections. In a male non-AIDS patient (50 y), 11 years after a suggested diagnosis of "tuberculous meningitis", meningoencephalitis with hydrocephalus was diagnosed and treated accordingly without success. mycobacterium tuberculosis was never found. Because fibrin fibres of a spider web coagulum in the CSF resembled aspergillus mycelium, the patient was then treated with amphotericin b flucytosine. Finally, a mycological examination led to the true diagnosis: (1) In the CSF, resembling aspergillus hyphae were found to be spider web coagulum fibres. (2) Cryptococcal meningoencephalitis based on the detection of cryptococcus neoformans in CSF and its antigen in serum and CSF. - At post-mortem, cryptococcal meningoencephalitis was established as cause of death. Residual signs of tuberculosis could not be detected in the brain and the meninges. Common clinical similarities of cryptococcal and tuberculous meningitis and the possibility of a double infection are discussed. A comparison of the presence of Cr. neoformans in the meninges of non-AIDS and AIDS patients is made. The formation of spider web coagulum in the CSF is discussed. Proposals for the diagnosis, therapy and prophylaxis of cryptococcal meningitis are made.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/40. Neoplastic angioendotheliomatosis (NAE) of the CNS in a patient with AIDS subacute encephalitis, diffuse leukoencephalopathy and meningo-cerebral cryptococcosis.A 12-year-old, hemophilic boy died with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) after a clinical course characterized by progressive psycho-organic syndrome and opportunistic infections. Postmortem neuropathological examination revealed a cerebral form of neoplastic angioendotheliomatosis (NAE), leukoencephalopathy, giant cell encephalitis and meningo-cerebral cryptococcosis. The most unusual finding was the presence of proliferated neoplastic cells within lumina of some blood vessels throughout the central nervous system (CNS). These cells displayed cytologic features of malignancy and stained positively for common leukocyte antigen. Coronal sections showed diffuse cerebral and cerebellar leukoencephalopathy with most pronounced loss of myelin and axons in deep white matter, while the subcortical arcuate fibers and the corpus callosum were partially spared. In these areas numerous small foci of severe myelin loss were present. Microglial nodules and distinctive multinucleated giant cells (MGC) were numerous. Intracytoplasmic and intranuclear acidophilic inclusions were found in a few multinuclear and mononuclear cells. Close contact between mononuclear and multinuclear cells suggesting their fusion was also observed. As far as we know this is the first case of NAE encountered in AIDS, one of the rare primary cerebral forms and the youngest reported case of NAE up to now. This case could be considered as one proof more that NAE is a special form of malignant lymphoma.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/40. First report of chronic meningitis caused by trichosporon beigelii.trichosporon beigelii (trichosporon cutaneum) was identified as the causative agent of chronic meningitis in a 15-year-old boy with acute lymphocytic leukaemia. After a neutropenic episode following cytostatic treatment and itraconazole therapy as prophylaxis, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples yielded growth of trichosporon beigelii. Treatment with amphotericin b, flucytosine and high doses of fluconazole was followed by clinical improvement, although CSF pleocytosis remained. The cross-reactivity between cryptococcus neoformans and trichosporon beigelii in a cryptococcal antigen latex test was used as a means of diagnosis in CSF and serum samples.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = antigen (Clic here for more details about this article) |
| | Next -> |