[Disseminated microspiridiosis (Encephalitozoon intestinalis) in a patient with HIV infection].
METHODS
A 39-year-old patient with advanced HIV infection was admitted to our hospital with a 6-month history of diarrhoea, abdominal pain and pansinusitis.


METHODS
Ultrasound and endoscopic retrograde cholangiography revealed cholangitis of the larger bile ducts. Stool examinations and coloscopy were unremarkable. No pathogenic organisms were identified by routine investigations. Finally, microsporidia of the genus encephalitozoon were diagnosed by electron microscopy in biopsies from the bile duct and the nasal mucous membrane and in stool samples by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).


METHODS
Albendazole treatment was successful. The cholestatic liver tests and the ultrasound findings normalized. Control tests of stool, bile and nasal secretions by light microscopy, electron microscopy, and PCR were negative.


CONCLUSIONS
Microsporidia, along with human cytomegalovirus, cryptosporida and mycobacteria other than tuberculosis are increasingly recognized as causing opportunistic infections in immunodeficient patients, especially in AIDS-related cholangitis. Some species can cause systemic infection. Therefore microsporidia infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of all patients with immunodeficiency.
Lippert
U
U
Klinische Abteilung (Chefarzt Prof. Dr. G. Burchard).
Schottelius
J
J
Manegold
C
C
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D000328:Adult; D015766:Albendazole / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001652:Bile Ducts / Q000469:parasitology; D001706:Biopsy; D016819:Encephalitozoon / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016890:Encephalitozoonosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D009297:Nasal Mucosa / Q000469:parasitology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013997:Time Factors
D000981:Antiprotozoal Agents; D015766:Albendazole