Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with disseminated toxoplasmosis presenting as an acute pulmonary and gastrointestinal illness.
Encephalitis due to the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii has emerged as a common cause of central nervous system disease in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Extraneural disease is less common and more difficult to diagnose. We report a case of widely disseminated toxoplasmosis that presented as acute gastrointestinal and pulmonary disease in a patient without a prior diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis was made only at autopsy. Antemortem diagnosis of disseminated T gondii infection requires a high degree of clinical suspicion and the prompt utilization of appropriate diagnostic testing. Since toxoplasmosis is a potentially treatable opportunistic infection, diagnosis allows the swift institution of anti-Toxoplasma therapy.
Garcia
L W
LW
Department of Pathology, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Mass. 02215.
Hemphill
R B
RB
Marasco
W A
WA
Ciano
P S
PS
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology