1/27. Fatal biphasic brainstem and spinal leptomeningitis with cryptococcus neoformans in a non-immunocompromised child.Cryptococcal meningitis is one of the most common life-threatening, invasive fungal infections of the central nervous system in patients with defective T-lymphocyte function. It is, however, unusual in children. We report on a non-immunocompromised 10-y-old boy without evidence of immunological abnormality who developed headache, vomiting, disturbances of consciousness and areflexia. magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and the spinal cord revealed enlargement of the ventricles and high signal lesions in the leptomeninges at the level of the cerebral peduncles and the cervical and thoracic cord. cerebrospinal fluid analysis was positive for cryptococcus neoformans. He was treated with amphotericin b and was symptom-free within 1 wk. Despite an extended course of therapy his symptoms suddenly relapsed and he succumbed to the medical complications of cardiac and respiratory failure. central nervous system appearances at postmortem were those of cryptococcal leptomeningitis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = central nervous system, nervous system, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/27. coccidioidomycosis meningitis with massive dural and cerebral venous thrombosis and tissue arthroconidia.To our knowledge we report the first case of meningitis from coccidioides immitis associated with massive dural and cerebral venous thrombosis and with mycelial forms of the organism in brain tissue. The patient was a 43-year-old man with late-stage acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) whose premortem and postmortem cultures confirmed C immitis as the only central nervous system pathogenic organism. death was attributable to multiple hemorrhagic venous infarctions with cerebral edema and herniation. Although phlebitis has been noted parenthetically to occur in C immitis meningitis in the past, it has been overshadowed by the arteritic complications of the disease. This patient's severe C immitis ventriculitis with adjacent venulitis appeared to be the cause of the widespread venous thrombosis. AIDS-related coagulation defects may have contributed to his thrombotic tendency.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.72816828033569keywords = central nervous system, nervous system, brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/27. Aqueductal stenosis and hydrocephalus in an infant due to aspergillus infection.Aqueductal stenosis is a common cause of hydrocephalus during infancy. We report on an infant born with aplasia cutis congenita at the scalp vertex and hypoplastic left heart syndrome developing systemic aspergillosis after cardiac surgery. The infant died at the age of 76 days despite systemic antimycotic therapy with a combination of flucytosine and amphotericin b. Therapy started at post-operative day 17 and was also applied intrathecally. Post-mortem examination revealed meningitis, multiple brain aspergillomas and microabscesses with focal ependymitis, focal bronchopneumonia, and necrotizing enterocolitis. One of the brain aspergillomas was located close to the aqueduct causing an aqueductal stenosis and an obstructive hydrocephalus. Histologically, aspergillus hyphae could only be detected in the aspergilloma of the aqueduct. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of an aqueductal stenosis caused by an aspergilloma.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.059500361140138keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/27. Spinal seeding of anaplastic ependymoma mimicking fungal meningitis. A case report and review of the literature.BACKGROUND: The spinal seeding from brain tumors sometimes mimicks fungal meningitis on examination of cerebrospinal fluid. methods AND RESULTS: A 19-year-old woman gradually developed increased intracranial hypertension. MRI identified a mass in the right parieto-occipital area. It was totally removed and histologically diagnosed as an anaplastic ependymoma. radiation- and chemotherapy were administered postoperatively. The patient reported low back pain 5 months after the surgical treatment. MRI disclosed neither spinal dissemination nor tumor recurrence at the primary site. Lumbar puncture was performed and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was found to have an extremely low glucose level (5 mg/dl); no tumor cells were identified. blood samples were obtained and a relative increase of WBC and CRP was noted. A slight degree of inflammation and low-grade fever were recorded. A tentative diagnosis of fungal meningitis was made and anti-fungal therapy was administered transventricularly and transvenously. However, her neurological condition continued to deteriorate gradually. Sequential CSF studies showed that the glucose level remained extremely low, it even decreased to 0 mg/dl Eight months after the surgical treatment, MRI with Gd-DTPA revealed marked subarachnoid enhancement in both intracranial and spinal areas. An open biopsy was performed and a histological diagnosis of intracranial and spinal seeding of the anaplastic ependymoma was returned. CONCLUSIONS: We report a patient with intracranial and spinal seeding of an anaplastic ependymoma that mimicked fungal meningitis. We discuss the difficulty of obtaining a differential diagnosis in this case and describe the mechanism of the decreased CSF glucose level.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.029750180570069keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/27. Spectroscopic increase in choline signal is a nonspecific marker for differentiation of infective/inflammatory from neoplastic lesions of the brain.We report in vivo proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopic findings in three benign infective/inflammatory lesions (one case each of tuberculoma, fungal granuloma, and xanthogranuloma), which showed high choline along with the presence of lipid/lactate, a feature characteristically described in neoplastic lesions. Histopathology of the lesions showed inflammatory cellular infiltrates with areas of necrosis/caseation. The spectroscopic-visible increased choline resonance in these lesions is probably the result of cellularity. We conclude that increased choline, along with the presence of lipid/lactate is a nonspecific finding and may not be of much value in the differentiation of neoplastic from nonneoplastic infective/inflammatory intracranial mass lesions.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.11900072228028keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/27. cerebral phaeohyphomycosis caused by a dematiaceous scopulariopsis species.This report describes a rapidly fatal case of cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in a 33-year-old immunocompetent male. The infection presented as a single large lesion in the deep white matter of one temporal lobe, which was then removed surgically. Histologic features observed in the lobectomy specimen were characterized by perivascular sleeves of mononuclear cells accompanied by hemorrhages. These were reminiscent of acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis except for the presence of rare fungal organisms and sparse multinucleated giant cells similar to those occurring in AIDS. During the four days following surgery, a large focus of cerebritis with massive invasion of fungi developed in each centrum semiovale around the ventriculostomy sites. Fungal culture of the brain obtained at autopsy grew an organism consistent with a scopulariopsis species.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.029750180570069keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/27. Holmes' tremor and neuroparacoccidioidomycosis: a case report.We report on a case of neuroparacoccidioidomycosis that presented with a midbrain mass lesion associated with Holmes' tremor. The difficulties of pharmacological treatment of such tremor are emphasized.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.029750180570069keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/27. Successful treatment of coccidioidal meningitis with voriconazole.A previously healthy 47-year-old man with coccidioidal meningitis had fluconazole treatment failure and developed severe symptoms, multiple cranial nerve palsies, and brain-stem inflammation visible on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). High-dose voriconazole therapy resulted in gradual resolution of almost all signs and symptoms, normalization of cerebrospinal fluid, and clearing of brain-stem edema seen on MRI. The patient had photosensitivity after 10 weeks of treatment, but this improved when the voriconazole dose was lowered. Continuous voriconazole therapy kept coccidioidal meningitis in complete remission in this patient for >2 years.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.059500361140138keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/27. diffusion-weighted imaging of cerebritis.Restricted water diffusion has been used to distinguish pyogenic abscess from other rim-enhancing brain masses; however diffusion-weighted imaging of cerebral infection before capsule formation has rarely been described. We report a case of fungal cerebritis in which water diffusion was more restricted than that of normal contralateral brain and the measured diffusion coefficient was in the range of that reported for pyogenic brain abscess. In the proper clinical setting, cerebritis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of an ill-defined focal brain mass associated with markedly restricted water diffusion.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.11900072228028keywords = brain (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/27. glioblastoma, transforming growth factor-beta, and candida meningitis: a potential link.The development of candida meningitis in a patient following partial resection of a glioblastoma raised suspicion that transforming growth factor (TGF-beta), an immunosuppressive cytokine known to be produced by this tumor, would be elevated in his cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). By using a highly specific bioassay, the concentration of TGF-beta was found to be 609 pg/mL, which was 10-fold greater than the mean CSF TGF-beta value in control subjects with no neurologic disease. Increased CSF TGF-beta levels were also detected in patients with other central nervous system (CNS) diseases: malignancies and aids dementia complex. These findings suggest that TGF-beta may play an immunopathogenetic role in the CNS.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.69841809976562keywords = central nervous system, nervous system (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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