Revista de SIDA e investigación clínica

A Report of Two Cases with Different Clinical Presentation of Cerebral Toxoplasmosis in HIV-Infected Bulgarian Patients

Abstract

Nina Yancheva, Nina Tsvetkova, Irina Marinova, Ivaylo Elenkov, Tatyana Tchervenyakova, Maria Nikolova and Ivaylo Aleksiev

Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by an obligate intracellular protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. In immunocompetent adults, infection can occur subclinically, or with lymphadenitis. In HIV-infected individuals with severe immune suppression, Toxoplasma gondii can cause severe disease with invasion of the gray and white matter of the brain, the retina, the lungs, the heart and the skeletal muscles. Toxoplasmosis is the most common opportunistic infection of the central nervous system in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The clinical presentation of cerebral toxoplasmosis in the majority of these patients includes headaches, focal neurological deficits, and seizures. In this article, we report two cases with different presentation of cerebral toxoplasmosis in the setting of an HIV infection.