Acanthamoeba Meningoencephalitis in a Patient with AIDS

Patients with AIDS are susceptible to infections with many microorganisms that are either uncommon causes of human infection or that are of low pathogenicity. The CNS of these patients is a frequent site of infection, and identification the etiologic agent is often established only by brain biopsy. The purpose of this report is to document fatal meningoencephalitis caused by Acanthamoeba culbertsoni in a patient with AIDS. The peculiar tropism of A. culbertsoni for the CNS in this immunocompromised patient was reflected by experimental infections of immunocompromised mice.