cerebral toxoplasmosis non hiv

Toxoplasmosis is a serous parasitic zoonosis caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii worldwide. Human beings acquire the disease by eating infected meat containing T. gondii cysts, by ingesting water or vegetables contaminated with oocysts shed in the feces of an infected cat, and by transmission from mother to fetus. Cerebral toxoplasmosis is one of the most serious complications in immunocompromised individuals such as HIV-infected patients, with a high mortality rate, whereas the incidence of cerebral toxoplasmosis is extremely rare in immunocompetent persons...

As a result of global migration, a significant number of people with Trypanosoma cruzi infection now live in the United States, Canada, many countries in Europe, and other non-endemic countries. Trypanosoma cruzi meningoencephalitis is a rare cause of ring-enhancing lesions in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) that can closely mimic central nervous system (CNS) toxoplasmosis. We report a case of CNS Chagas reactivation in an AIDS patient successfully treated with benznidazole and antiretroviral therapy in the United States...

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to describe the morbidity and mortality patterns in HIV-positive adults hospitalized in West Africa. METHOD: We conducted a six-month prospective multicentre survey within the IeDEA West Africa collaboration in six adult medical wards of teaching hospitals in Abidjan, Ouagadougou, Cotonou, Dakar and Bamako. From April to October 2010, all newly hospitalized HIV-positive patients were eligible. Baseline and follow-up information until hospital discharge was recorded using standardized forms...

We conduct a longitudinal descriptive study in the department of infectious diseases to CHU of Point G during 18 months. It concerned adult patients referred from another care center. All the patients underwent systematic clinical examination and complementary exploration. Our sample was 352 HIV+ patients, with a mean age of 37.8 ± 9.8 years and a sex ratio (M/F)=0.94 shared among patients receiving ARV treatment (ART-s) and not (n-ART). Delay of reference was 5 ± 4.4 days. All patients benefited from clinical and paraclinical examinations...

OBJECTIVES: To identify associations between specific WHO stage 3 and 4 conditions diagnosed after ART initiation and all cause mortality for patients in resource-limited settings (RLS). DESIGN, SETTING: Analysis of routine program data collected prospectively from 25 programs in eight countries between 2002 and 2010. SUBJECTS, PARTICIPANTS: 36,664 study participants with median ART follow-up of 1.26 years (IQR 0.55-2.27). OUTCOME MEASURES: Using a proportional hazards model we identified factors associated with mortality, including the occurrence of specific WHO clinical stage 3 and 4 conditions during the 6-months following ART initiation...

Cerebral toxoplasmosis is the most common neurological opportunistic disease manifested in HIV infected patients. Excretory/secretory antigens (ESA) are serological markers for the diagnosis of reactivation of the infection in HIV-infected patients with cerebral toxoplasmosis. Immunosuppressed patients develop high antibody titers for ESA. However, little is known about the humoral response for these antigens. The present study analyzed the profile of antibody recognition against ESA in comparison with tachyzoite lysate antigen (TLA) in 265 sera and 270 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from infected patients with Toxoplasma gondii and or HIV and in sera of 50 healthy individuals...

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to identify the factors associated with developing AIDS 6 months or more after an HIV diagnosis, and to examine how post-HIV diagnosis AIDS (PHDA) patients differed from true late presenters (HIV diagnosed concurrent with the first AIDS presenting event) in their demographics and comorbidities. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was undertaken of all inpatients admitted to a large HIV unit presenting with the following AIDS-defining infections: cryptococcal meningitis, cerebral toxoplasmosis or Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2010...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In HIV infected patients, MRI cannot reliably differentiate between central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma and non-malignant CNS lesions, particularly cerebral toxoplasmosis (CTOX). This study prospectively investigates the utility of FDG PET-CT and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in discriminating CNS lymphoma from non-malignant CNS lesions in HIV infected patients, and assesses the ability of FDG PET-CT to guide the use of early brain biopsy. METHODS: 10 HIV patients with neurological symptoms and contrast enhancing lesions on MRI were commenced on anti-toxoplasmosis therapy before undergoing FDG PET-CT and MRS...

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) induces acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in humans. Neurological complications occur frequently in patients with AIDS. About 20 to 40% of all these patients develop neurological symptoms, and in about 10% of AIDS patients, the onset of the disease is characterized by neurological symptoms. These may be related to primary HIV infection or to any of a large number of opportunistic viral and non-viral infections. HIV itself induces acute HIV aseptic meningitis, HIV-1-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND), HIV distal sensory polyneuropathy, and HIV vacuolar myelopathy...

BACKGROUND: One of the major consequences of pregnant women becoming infected by Toxoplasma gondii is vertical transmission to the fetus. Although rare, congenital toxoplasmosis can cause severe neurological or ocular disease (leading to blindness), as well as cardiac and cerebral anomalies. Prenatal care must include education about prevention of toxoplasmosis. The low prevalence of the disease in the Canadian population and limitations in diagnosis and therapy limit the effectiveness of screening strategies...

PURPOSE: The overall mortality rate among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients has significantly declined in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). However, little is known about the causes of death for HIV-infected patients who are hospitalized in acute care hospitals. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of hospitalized HIV-infected patients from 2004 to 2008 was undertaken. RESULTS: Among 9,101 hospitalized HIV-infected patients, 237 deaths were identified, with an overall mortality rate of 237/9,101 (2...

The objective of this study is to describe the clinical, biological, therapeutic and evolving current profile of hospitalized patients with HIV infection in the cohort of the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit (ITDU) in the aim to improve their care management. This is a retrospective study, conducted on medical data of hospitalized cases of patients with HIV infection in the ITDU at the teaching hospital of Treichville (Abidjan) from 2006 to 2007. During the two years, 447 patients were included in the study...

OBJECTIVE: To describe the causes of death occurring during the antiretroviral therapy in Casablanca. METHODS: Retrospective study of a cohort of HIV positive patients attending the infectious diseases unit of Casablanca receiving antiretroviral therapy. Files of 91 patients who died were analyzed. RESULTS: Since June 1999, 1243 patients were treated and 91 deaths occurred (7, 3%). The mean age at time of death was 36 years. Forty-six patients were male (50, 5%) and 86 were stage C (94, 5%)...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the diagnostic accuracy, technical benefit, and clinical application of the duplex reverse transcription-PCR (duplex RT-PCR) assay specific to bradyzoite (BAG1) and tachyzoite (SAG1) genes, for diagnosing toxoplasmic encephalitis (TE) in HIV-infected patients, using the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended diagnostic criteria as the reference standard. METHODS: Advanced HIV-infected individuals with central nervous system opportunistic infections were enrolled in a prospective study, performed from July 2007 to January 2009; patients were classified as TE- or non-TE subjects in accordance with the CDC recommended criteria...

HIV infection results in profound alterations of immunologic function that render the patient severely immunocompromised, and susceptible to malignancies and opportunistic infections. Three AIDS-defining malignancies include Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and invasive cervical cancer. In AIDS patients, KS is often aggressive and multifocal, with visceral involvement and widespread cutaneous and nodal spread; NHL is always high grade and often widely disseminated at the time of diagnosis with frequent involvement of extranodal sites; cervical cancer is invasive and has greater likelihood of progression and metastasis...

BACKGROUNDS: An opportunistic infection is an infection caused by pathogens, such as Toxoplasma gondii, that usually are not pathogenic in a healthy host but may cause an infection in immunocompromised patients. Although the most frequent cause of an opportunistic infection is immunodeficiency due to HIV infection, the immunodeficiency induced by anticancer treatment cannot be ignored. DESIGN: A 56-year old female patient after a comprehensive treatment of breast cancer underwent a stereotactic biopsy of MR-verified multiple brain lesions suspected to be of metastatic aetiology...

As cerebral toxoplasmosis is the most common cerebral focal lesion in AIDS patients, this study evaluated three PCR markers for diagnosis, since some limitations remain present, such as low parasite levels in some clinical samples. The molecular markers were B22-B23 and Tg1-Tg2 (based on the B1 gene) and Tox4-Tox5 (non-coding fragment, repeated 200-300-fold). DNA samples from 102 AIDS patients with previously known diagnosis were analyzed. The cerebral toxoplasmosis group was constituted of DNA extracted from the blood of 66 AIDS patients, which was collected before or until the third day of the therapy for toxoplasmosis...

New-onset seizures are frequent manifestations in patients infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). We describe the clinical and radiological findings in an 25yr old AIDS patient presenting with new onset seizures as the primary manifestation of cerebral toxoplasmosis and Non Tuberculous Mycobacterial [NTM] co-infection. Cranial computed tomography showed a subtle ventricular dilatation whereas magnetic resonance imaging disclosed prominent temporal horn. Toxoplasma tachyzoites and rapidly growing mycobacteria were recovered from CSF...

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Mollaret meningitis (MM) occurs mainly in females and is characterized by recurrent episodes of headache, transient neurological abnormalities, and the cerebrospinal fluid containing mononuclear cells. HSV-2 was usually identified as the causative agent. Recently, we found that recurrent headaches in non-HIV-infected subjects were due to acquired cerebral toxoplasmosis (CT). The aim of the study was therefore to focus on molecular pathomechanisms that may lead to reactivation of latent CT and manifest as MM...