Yekosani Mitala, Raymond Atwine, Abraham Birungi, Ambaru Jacinta, Kuraishi Baluku, Semei Sekitene, Edwin Nuwagira
{"title":"A case of toxoplasmic encephalitis in a patient on cancer chemotherapy in Uganda.","authors":"Yekosani Mitala, Raymond Atwine, Abraham Birungi, Ambaru Jacinta, Kuraishi Baluku, Semei Sekitene, Edwin Nuwagira","doi":"10.4314/ahs.v24i4.14","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Reactivation of central nervous system (CNS) toxoplasmosis can be caused by immunosuppression (ISS) of any kind. However, anti-cancer chemotherapy combined with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) induced ISS results in an atypical presentation that is fatal.</p><p><strong>Case presentation: </strong>A 46 years old man with a well-controlled infection of the human immunodeficiency virus presented with generalized tonic-clonic seizures following the second dose of anti-cancer chemotherapy for esophageal cancer. His brain's computerized tomography (CT) scan showed enlarged ventricles with no space-occupying lesions. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) smears stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) revealed numerous bradyzoites and tachyzoites consistent with central nervous system toxoplasmosis.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>With a double burden of cancer and Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in low-income countries, this case raises awareness about the atypical presentation of CNS toxoplasmosis reactivation among patients on cancer chemotherapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":94295,"journal":{"name":"African health sciences","volume":"24 4","pages":"106-110"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11970142/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"African health sciences","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v24i4.14","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Reactivation of central nervous system (CNS) toxoplasmosis can be caused by immunosuppression (ISS) of any kind. However, anti-cancer chemotherapy combined with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) induced ISS results in an atypical presentation that is fatal.
Case presentation: A 46 years old man with a well-controlled infection of the human immunodeficiency virus presented with generalized tonic-clonic seizures following the second dose of anti-cancer chemotherapy for esophageal cancer. His brain's computerized tomography (CT) scan showed enlarged ventricles with no space-occupying lesions. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) smears stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) revealed numerous bradyzoites and tachyzoites consistent with central nervous system toxoplasmosis.
Conclusion: With a double burden of cancer and Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection in low-income countries, this case raises awareness about the atypical presentation of CNS toxoplasmosis reactivation among patients on cancer chemotherapy.