ABSTRACT
A 37-year-old HIV-positive Gambian woman presented with spastic weakness of the right leg six years after receiving treatment for tuberculous meningitis (TBM). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine showed a multiloculated syrinx in the thoracic spinal cord extending from the T2 to the T11 level. Syringomyelia and syringobulbia have been reported as complications of TBM. We describe the first case of syringomyelia as an uncommon late complication of treated TBM in the setting of HIV infection. Early recognition of this rare entity may avoid irreversible neurological sequelae.
Subject(s)
HIV Infections/microbiology , Syringomyelia/microbiology , Tuberculosis, Meningeal/microbiology , Adult , Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid/microbiology , Female , HIV Infections/cerebrospinal fluid , Humans , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Mycobacterium tuberculosis/isolation & purification , Syringomyelia/cerebrospinal fluid , Syringomyelia/pathology , Syringomyelia/virology , Tuberculosis, Meningeal/cerebrospinal fluid , Tuberculosis, Meningeal/virologyABSTRACT
A one-year-old female cat was unable to stand. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed, and an enlargement of the lateral, third, and fourth ventricles and syringomyelia were detected. The cat was diagnosed with an isolated fourth ventricle (IFV) with syringomyelia. The serum isoantibody test for the feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) virus was 1:3,200. After the cat died, a pathological examination revealed nonsuppurative encephalomyelitis. We suspected that the IFV, detected in the cat, was associated with FIP encephalomyelitis. To our knowledge, there has been no report on IFV in veterinary medicine.
