Balamuthia mandrillaris is one cause of a rare and severe brain infection called granulomatous amoebic encephalitis (GAE), which has a mortality rate of >90%. Diagnosis of Balamuthia GAE is difficult because symptoms are non-specific. Here, we report a case of Balamuthia amoebic encephalomyelitis (encephalitis and myelitis) in a woman with breast cancer. She sustained trauma near a garbage dump 2 years ago and subsequently developed a skin lesion with a Mycobacterium abscessus infection. She experienced dizziness, lethargy, nausea and vomiting, inability to walk, and deterioration of consciousness. Next-generation sequencing of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples revealed B. mandrillaris, and MRI of both brain and spinal cord showed abnormal signals. T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing of the CSF identified the Top1 TCR. A combination of amphotericin B, flucytosine, fluconazole, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, clarithromycin, pentamidine, and miltefosine was administrated, but she deteriorated gradually and died on day 27 post-admission.
CITATION STYLE
Hu, J., Zhang, Y., Yu, Y., Yu, H., Guo, S., Shi, D., … Xiao, Y. (2022). Encephalomyelitis Caused by Balamuthia mandrillaris in a Woman With Breast Cancer: A Case Report and Review of the Literature. Frontiers in Immunology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2021.768065
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