Disseminated Balamuthia mandrillaris Infection.

Central Nervous System Infection Due to Balamuthia Spp.: Clinical Diagnosis and Management

Balamuthia amoebic encephalitis is a rare infection but it almost always proves fatal with the mortality rate of more than 95%. Thus it is not surprising that the majority of cases are identified at the post-mortem stage. Early diagnosis followed by aggressive treatment may lead to successful prognosis for the patient. The clinical diagnosis requires a high level of suspicion, awareness of the ...

Successful treatment of Balamuthia mandrillaris amoebic infection with extensive neurological and cutaneous involvement.

Granulomatous amoebic encephalitis caused by Balamuthia mandrillaris is an uncommon infection for which there is no optimal therapy. We describe a young, female patient who presented with extensive cutaneous and neurological involvement and who recovered after receiving prolonged treatment with miltefosine, fluconazole, and albendazole.

Etymologia: Balamuthia mandrillaris

Balamuthia mandrillaris and Acanthamoeba amebic encephalitis with neurotoxoplasmosis coinfection in a patient with advanced HIV infection.

We describe a patient with advanced HIV infection and Balamuthia mandrillaris and Acanthamoeba amebic encephalitis with Toxoplasma gondii coinfection. A multidisciplinary effort and state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques were required for diagnosis. Our patient is the first reported case of an HIV-infected person with dual Balamuthia mandrillaris and Acanthamoeba amebic encephalitis with neurot...

Balamuthia mandrillaris: identification of clinical and environmental isolates using genus-specific PCR.

The protist genus Balamuthia was first described as the causative agent of a fatal case of encephalitis in a mandrill [8]. Originally classified as a leptomyxid ameba, it was eventually given genus status as Balamuthia mandrillaris [8,9]. Since the original isolation, numerous isolates have been found in granulomatous amebic encephalitis (GAE) cases in a number of vertebrates, including humans,...