Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis caused by Acanthamoeba in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus

J. Koide, E. Okusawa, T. Ito, S. Mori, T. Takeuchi, S. Itoyama, T. Abe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A 25-year-old chronically immunosuppressed woman with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) died after developing subacute granulomatous encephalitis caused by Acanthamoeba. Amoebic trophozoites were also found in the lung, suggesting a primary pulmonary focus of infection. The infectious encephalitis was difficult to differentiate from a flare-up of central nervous system lupus. This case illustrates that Acanthamoeba can cause fatal encephalitis in lupus patients, as well as in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome as previously reported. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of granulomatous amoebic encephalitis due to Acanthamoeba in a patient with SLE.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)329-332
Number of pages4
JournalClinical Rheumatology
Volume17
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1998
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Acanthamoeba
  • Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis
  • Opportunistic Infection
  • Systemic lupus erythematosus

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Rheumatology

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