Usefulness of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in the Assessment of Brain Chagas Disease: A Case Report

Abstract

Chagas disease, or American trypanosomiasis, is a parasitic infection caused by the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, an organism that is endemic to Latin America. While Chagas disease is primarily a vector-borne illness, new cases are emerging in non-endemic areas due to globalization of immigration and non-vectorial transmission routes. Once the infection has started, the main target organs are the heart, the alimentary tract, and the nervous system. However in immunosupressed patients, focal encephalitis due to T. cruzi infection may occur which tends to acquire a necrotizing feature with mass effect, perilesional edema, and pseudotumoral form (CTLAT, “cerebral tumor-like American trypanosomiasis”). In recent years, a few reports have described HIV-positive patients with central nervous system lesions due to Chagas disease. Here we report the clinical, neuroimaging, and histopathological findings of a patient with CTLAT and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. To our knowledge, this is the first report in literature of the metabolite pattern assessed by magnetic resonance spectroscopy in these lesions.




J Neurol Res. 2013;3(5):Volume 3, Number 5, October 2013, pages 150-154
doi: https://doi.org/10.4021/jnr237w