title: Balamuthia mandrillaris meningoencephalitis: the first case in southeast Asia.
abstract: We present a case of 23-year-old man with acute meningoencephalitis, accompanied by inflammation of a nasal ulcer. He had been healthy until six months prior to admission to the hospital when he had a motorcycle accident. A star-shaped wound at his nose was incurred after falling into a swamp. A computed tomogram of the brain showed two nonenhancing hypodense lesions at the left caudate nucleus and the right parietal lobe, ependymitis and leptomeningeal enhancement. A skin biopsy showed chronic noncaseous granulomatous inflammation without demonstrated microorganisms. The patient did not respond to the empirical treatment with cloxacillin, ceftriaxone, and amphotericin B, and eventually died on the thirteenth day of hospitalization. At autopsy, hematoxylin and eosin-stained brain sections showed a chronic necrotizing inflammation with numerous amebic trophozoites and rare cysts. Definitive identification of Balamuthia mandrillaris was made by fluorescent immunohistochemical analysis. There were 10 Naegleria fowleri primary amebic meningoencephalitis, eight Acanthamoeba granulomatous amebic encephalitis, and three Acanthamoeba meningitis in Thailand. To our knowledge, this case is the first reported case of B. mandrillaris in Southeast Asia.
authors.affiliation: Section of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Poj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Intalapaporn
authors.forename: Chusana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suankratay
authors.forename: Shanop
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shuangshoti
authors.forename: Kammant
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Phantumchinda
authors.forename: Somboon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Keelawat
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wilde
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000562:Amebiasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001210:Asia, Southeastern; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D020808:Central Nervous System Protozoal Infections / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D016840:Lobosea / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D008590:Meningoencephalitis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000473:pathology; D009666:Nose / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014456:Ulcer / Q000150:complications