Granulomatous amoebic meningoencephalitis in an immunocompetent patient.

OBJECTIVE

To report a case of granulomatous amoebic encephalitis caused by Balamuthia mandrillaris.

DESIGN

Case report.

SETTING

University hospital.

PATIENTS: An adult female patient without any apparent suppressor immune system factor had central nervous system infection caused by B mandrillaris.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical, neuroimaging, and pathology findings.

RESULTS

This study shows the diagnosis of B mandrillaris encephalitis suspected from a cerebral biopsy specimen and confirmed by immunohistochemical and polymerase chain reaction studies.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates that the diagnosis of amoebic encephalitis represents a clinical challenge and confirming diagnoses are made, in most cases, after death. High suspicion, histopathologic examination, and indirect immunofluorescence, polymerase chain reaction, and cytokine studies from tissue and cerebrospinal fluid are the main devices to reach the diagnosis.