Meningitis due to Prototheca wickerhamii in a patient with AIDS

Clin Infect Dis. 1992 Oct;15(4):704-6. doi: 10.1093/clind/15.4.704.

Abstract

The first documented case of algal meningitis due to Prototheca wickerhamii is reported in a patient with AIDS. The initial CSF culture yielded only Cryptococcus neoformans. P. wickerhamii was isolated on four subsequent lumbar punctures. The patient died, and at autopsy the alga was isolated from leptomeninges over the brain and about the spinal cord. Histologic sections from numerous locations of the brain revealed masses of cryptococci and prototheca.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / cerebrospinal fluid
  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / drug therapy
  • AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / microbiology*
  • Adult
  • Amphotericin B / therapeutic use
  • Cerebrospinal Fluid / microbiology
  • Cryptococcosis / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Cryptococcosis / drug therapy
  • Cryptococcosis / microbiology*
  • Cryptococcus neoformans / drug effects
  • Cryptococcus neoformans / isolation & purification*
  • Female
  • Flucytosine / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Meningitis / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Meningitis / drug therapy
  • Meningitis / microbiology*
  • Meningitis, Fungal / cerebrospinal fluid
  • Meningitis, Fungal / drug therapy
  • Meningitis, Fungal / microbiology
  • Prototheca / isolation & purification*

Substances

  • Amphotericin B
  • Flucytosine