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Toxoplasmic encephalitis associated with meningitis in a heart transplant recipient
Author(s) -
Baliu C.,
Sanclemente G.,
Cardona M.,
Castel M.A.,
PerezVilla F.,
Moreno A.,
Cervera C.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
transplant infectious disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1399-3062
pISSN - 1398-2273
DOI - 10.1111/tid.12242
Subject(s) - medicine , encephalitis , meningitis , toxoplasmosis , toxoplasma gondii , opportunistic infection , immunology , differential diagnosis , disease , pediatrics , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , viral disease , pathology , virus , antibody
T oxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic pathogen that causes neurologic and extraneurologic manifestations in immunosuppressed patients. Encephalitis and intracranial mass lesions are easily recognized as typical manifestations of toxoplasmosis. However, meningitis caused by T . gondii is a rare condition with very few cases described in the literature. We present the case of a heart transplant recipient who developed toxoplasmic encephalitis associated with meningitis. After an extensive review of the medical literature, we found only 1 case of meningitis in solid organ transplant recipients and <25 cases in immunosuppressed patients, such as patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus or those with Hodgkin's disease. In this report, we consider toxoplasmosis in the differential diagnosis of meningitis in immunocompromised individuals.