Fine needle aspiration biopsy of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy in a patient with AIDS. A case report.

BACKGROUND

Progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is one of the most common opportunistic infections, with a range of 4-7% in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients. Clinical diagnosis is often difficult, and the specific pathologic agent requires cytologic and pathologic confirmation.

CASE: A 38-year-old, Haitian male was admitted with a new-onset seizure disorder. On computed tomography (CT), there were right frontoparietal cortex, right external capsule and right basal ganglia lucencies. Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the radiolucent area revealed foci of white matter demyelination and a few eosinophilic inclusions in oligodendrocytes plus abnormal giant astrocytes. Ultrastructurally, JC virions were observed in the nuclei and cytoplasm of the oligodendrocytes.

CONCLUSION

Diagnostic cranial CT-guided FNAB, with cytologic and histologic studies, is extremely valuable in evaluating the nature of central nervous system demyelinated and space-occupying lesions in AIDS.