Metastatic cerebral abscesses due to Hemophilus paraphrophilus

M. Habib, T. Fosse, J. F. Pellissier and R. Khalil

A patient who had a two-month history of nonspecific inflammatory disease experienced symptoms of raised intracranial pressure and meningitis. Computed tomographic scan showed multiple, small ring-enhancing hypodensities consistent with cerebral abscesses. The infective agent proved to be Hemophilus paraphrophilus, a fastidious, particularly slow-growing organism that was identified on blood cultures. An autopsy disclosed disseminated microabscesses and demonstrated typical pathologic changes of endocarditis complicating mitral valve prolapse.