• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.60 no.1
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• pp.35-38
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• 2022

Cerebral toxoplasmosis is often life-threatening in an immunocompromised patient due to delayed diagnosis and treatment. Several differential diagnoses could be possible only with preoperative brain images of cerebral toxoplasmosis which show multiple rim-enhancing lesions. Due to the rarity of cerebral toxoplasmosis cases in Korea, the diagnosis and treatment are often delayed. This paper concerns a male patient whose cerebral toxoplasmosis was activated 21 years post kidney transplantation. Brain open biopsy was decided to make an exact diagnosis. Cerebral toxoplasmosis was confirmed by immunohistochemistry and PCR analyses of the tissue samples. Although cerebral toxoplasmosis was under control with medication, the patient did not recover clinically and died due to sepsis and recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.316-319
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• 2012

A 24-year-old man presented with mental change, fever, abdominal pain, tenderness and palpable mass on the lower abdomen. He was a non-Korean engineer and did not accompany a legal guardian, so medical history taking was difficult due to his mental status. Brain magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple rim-enhanced lesions of the brain, and abdominal computed tomography showed huge paraspinal abscess. Chest X-ray and computed tomography showed poorly defined nodular opacities. We initially thought that this patient was infected with toxoplasmosis with typical cerebral image finding and immunoglobulin laboratory finding of cerebrospinal fluid and serum study. The abdominal abscess was confirmed as tuberculosis through the pathologic finding of caseous necrosis. We used anti-tuberculosis medication and anti-toxoplasmosis medication for almost 4 months, and then his clinical state and radiological findings were considerably improved.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.196-200
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• 2006

Congenital toxoplasmosis is caused by vertical transmission of Toxoplasma gondii from mother during pregnancy. The broad clinical spectrum of congenital toxoplasmosis ranges from stillbirth or death shortly after birth to survival with either cerebral damage or mild or subclinical disease, consisting usually of ocular involvement. The authors experienced a case of congenital toxoplasmosis in prematurity baby whose mother had lived recently in Africa. The diagnosis of congenital toxoplasmosis was confirmed on the basis of clinical finding of chorioretinitis and positive serologic test for toxoplasma IgM antibody.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.749-753
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• 2015

Toxoplasma gondii atypical type II genotype was diagnosed in a pet peach-faced lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis) based on histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and multilocus DNA typing. The bird presented with severe neurological signs, and hematology was suggestive of chronic granulomatous disease. Gross post-mortem examination revealed cerebral hemorrhage, splenomegaly, hepatitis, and thickening of the right ventricular free wall. Histologic sections of the most significant lesions in the brain revealed intralesional protozoan organisms associated with malacia, spongiform changes, and a mild histiocytic response, indicative of diffuse, non-suppurative encephalitis. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the causative organisms to be T. gondii. DNA isolated from the brain was used to confirm the presence of T. gondii DNA. Multilocus genotyping based on SAG1, altSAG2, SAG3, BTUB, GRA6, c22-8, c29-2, L358, PK1, and Apico markers demonstrated the presence of ToxoDB PCR-RFLP genotype #3 and B1 gene as atypical T. gondii type II. The atypical type II strain has been previously documented in Australian wildlife, indicating an environmental transmission route.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.70-73
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• 2016

Necrotizing meningoencephalitis (NME) is a unique idiopathic nonsuppurative inflammatory disease of central nervous system in small-sized breed dogs. A 9-year-old intact male Shih-Tzu dog with anorexia, vomiting, salivation and intermittent seizures was submitted to the Jeju National University for diagnosis. Grossly, there were no obvious lesions in the brain, except dilatation of most blood vessels in meninges. Histopathologically, brain revealed severe multifocal nonsuppurative inflammation in perivascular area of meninges and cerebral cortex. Some areas of cerebral parenchyma were replaced with lots of macrophages contained periodic acid-Schiff positive materials. Many new-formed blood vessels were observed around the necrotic regions using Gomori reticulum stain. Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction were negative for toxoplasmosis and canine distemper virus. Based on the gross, histopathologic features and antigen detection methods, this case was diagnosed as NME. Here we reported the NME in relatively uncommon breed, Shih-Tzu dog, than other small breed dogs.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.441-445
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• 1996

A case of necrotizing meningoencephalitis was described in a 3-year-old female pug dog. Significant histopathological changes were confined to the brain. Histopathologically, brain lesion of the pug dog was characterized by (1) severe lymphocyte, plasma cell and macrophage infiltration in the meninges and gray and white matter of the cerebral hemisphere, (2) perivascular mononuclear cell cuffing and (3) focal polioencephalomalacia in the gray matter of cerebrum. Replicate sections of the brain and lung were negative for fungal infection, canine distemper and toxoplasmosis on PAS stain and immunohistochemistry, respectively. Based on clinical signs, histopathological and immunohistochemical studies, this case was diagnosed as necrotizing meningoencephalitis in pug dog that had not been preriously described in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.291-295
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• 2009

A dead stray cat was necropsied for zoonotic feline disease monitoring. Grossly, there were no specific lesions. Major microscopic lesions included lymphocytic meningoencephalitis, malacia, and tissue cysts in the cerebral and cerebellar cortex. The size and shape of tissue cysts were identical to those of Apicomplexa including Toxoplasma (T.) gondii. Bradyzoites in the tissue cyst were strongly positive for T. gondii by immunohistochemistry. Electron microscopy revealed that bradyzoites within the tissue cyst were similar to the morphological features of T. gondii. Fresh tissue samples were examined by a polymerase chain reaction assay and resulted in a specific band of T. gondii only in the brain. Based on the results, this case was diagnosed as toxoplasmosis. This is the first case of toxoplasmic meningoencephalitis in a cat in Korea.