Conus medullaris syndrome resulting from Toxoplasma gondii infection in a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Article Abstract:
AIDS may be complicated by neurologic, or nerve-associated, disorders, which are often caused by infection with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Symptoms include headache and deterioration in mental status. Imaging techniques and clinical evaluation are used to diagnose neurologic disorders resulting from T. gondii infection. This protozoan can infect all regions of the central nervous system, but rarely causes infection in the spine as opposed to the brain. A case is described of a 34-year-old hemophiliac with AIDS, who developed T. gondii infection of the intramedullary portion of the spine. The patient had symptoms of constipation; back pain; paraparesis, or partial paralysis of the lower limbs; urinary retention, or inability to urinate; mild confusion; and fever. A lesion on the spinal cord was identified by imaging techniques and biopsy, or tissue sampling, of the lesion; this revealed T. gondii infection. The patient was treated with the drugs pyrimethamine, sulfadiazine, and corticosteroids. His paralysis improved and the urinary retention resolved, and the patient was discharged. The early diagnosis and treatment of T. gondii infection of the central nervous system is essential in preventing death from this complication in patients with AIDS. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: American Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health care industry
ISSN: 0002-9343
Year: 1990
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Cytomegalovirus-associated appendicitis in a patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Article Abstract:
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is one of the most common opportunistic infections in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It may involve almost every organ, and gastrointestinal involvement is common. A case is reported of CMV infection in an AIDS patient which caused symptoms of acute abdominal pain. A 28-year-old man had pain of three days' duration. The patient had been treated one month previously for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, another common opportunistic infection associated with AIDS, and was taking antibiotics to prevent another occurrence of the disease. Exploratory surgery of the abdomen showed appendicitis. Evaluation of diseased tissue showed inflammatory cells and CMV was cultured from urine. When the patient was treated with antibiotics, the fever and infections resolved. Fourteen months later, the patient had no abdominal or other evidence of active CMV infection. Manifestation of CMV infection in AIDS patients as acute appendicitis has not previously been reported, but should be considered when patients with AIDS have abdominal pain of unknown origin. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: American Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health care industry
ISSN: 0002-9343
Year: 1990
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