 |
|
Strongyloides stercoralis Hyperinfection Masquerading as Cerebral Vasculitis
Robert M. Wachter, MD;
Allan M. Burke, MD;
Rob Roy MacGregor, MD
Arch Neurol. 1984;41(11):1213-1216.
Abstract
• Strongyloides stercoralis hyperinfection is a unique opportunistic infection in which the nematode disseminates widely to cause a multisystem illness. We treated a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus in whom ileus and fever developed and who later lapsed into coma. A xenon Xe 133 cerebral blood flow study showed a global reduction in flow, compatible with CNS vasculitis. The patient's condition failed to improve with high-dose steroid therapy, but he recovered rapidly after Strongyloides larvae were found in stool and sputum and treatment with thiabendazole was begun. We believe that hyperinfection explained the patient's symptoms and should be considered as a cause of diminished cerebral perfusion and mentation in immunosuppressed patients.
Author Affiliations
From the Infectious Diseases Section, Department of Medicine (Drs Wachter and MacGregor), and the Cerebrovascular Research Center, Department of Neurology (Dr Burke), Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Dr Wachter is now with the University of California Hospital, San Francisco; Dr Burke is now with Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago.
Footnotes
Accepted for publication Sept 12, 1983.
Reprint requests to Department of Internal Medicine, University of California Hospitals, San Francisco, CA 94143 (Dr Wachter).
 CiteULike  Connotea  Delicious  Digg  Facebook  Reddit  Technorati  Twitter
What's this?
THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES
Systemic lupus erythematosus and strongyloidiasis: a multifaceted connection
Caramaschi et al.
Lupus 2010;19:872-874.
ABSTRACT
|
