An autopsy case of granulomatous amebic encephalitis caused by Balamuthia mandrillaris involving prior amebic dermatitis.

ABSTRACT: An 82-year-old man, who was healthy and had worked as a farmer, experienced worsening neurological symptoms over a seven-month period, which eventually caused his death. Multiple fluctuating brain lesions were detected radiographically. Clinically, sarcoidosis was ranked high among the differential diagnoses because of the presence of skin lesions showing granulomatous inflammation, confirmed by biopsy. The patient's cerebrospinal fluid was also examined, but no definitive diagnosis was made while he was alive. An autopsy revealed multiple granulomatous amebic encephalitis lesions in the brain. Genetic and immunohistochemical analyses identified Balamuthia (B.) mandrillaris, a free-living ameba, which resides in soil and fresh water, as the causative organism. A retrospective examination r

SUBMITTER: Maehara T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9546287 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature