Oligodendroglioma in a patient with AIDS: case report and review of the literature

Abstract

SUMMARYIn the last years, new techniques of neuroimages and histopathological methods have been added to the management of cerebral mass lesions in patients with AIDS. Stereotactic biopsy is necessary when after 14 days of empirical treatment for Toxoplasma gondii encephalitis there is no clinical or neuroradiologic improvement. We report a woman with AIDS who developed a single focal brain lesion on the right frontal lobe. She presented a long history of headache and seizures. After two weeks of empirical treatment for toxoplasma encephalitis without response, a magnetic resonance image with spectroscopy was performed and showed a tumoral pattern with a choline peak, diminished of N-acetyl-aspartate and presence of lactate. A stereotactic biopsy was performed. Histopathological diagnosis was a diffuse oligodendroglioma type A. A microsurgical resection of the tumor was carried out and antiretroviral treatment was started. To date she is in good clinical condition, with undetectable plasma viral load and CD4 T cell count > 200 cell/uL.

Gliosarcoma: An Unusual Cause of Cerebral Mass Lesion in a Patient with AIDS

“…This case illustrate that glial tumors, including gliosarcoma, should be considered in the differential diagnosis of brain masses in HIV-seropositive patients 12 . Early stereotactic biopsy is needed to establish the final diagnosis of these tumors and is recommended by many authors 12,13 .…”

Prolonged survival and immune reconstitution after chagasic meningoencephalitis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

“…Approximately 40% to 60% of patients with AIDS develop some neurological disorder at some stage of the disease 4 . Acute exacerbation of chronic Chagas' disease can occur in immunocompromised patients, especially in individuals with the involvement of cellular immunity.…”

Brainstem anaplastic glioma in patients with AIDS: a case report and review of the literature

“…It is estimated that over 50% of Americans suffering from AIDS brave neurological complications 1–3. Although the more common brain lesions associated with AIDS are due to the central nervous system (CNS) lymphomas, toxoplasma encephalitis or progressive multifocal leucoencephalopathy (PML),4 relatively recent clinical evidence has shown that AIDS-independent cerebral tumours5 can arise as well, albeit less commonly. Previous incidents have been reported with HIV and AIDS patients presenting with cerebral astrocytomas6 (table 1), with only one case of a brainstem glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) reported in Germany in 2002 7.…”