An Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis Case due to Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Year 2016, Volume: 6 Issue: 1, 28 - 31, 01.03.2016

Hale Turan Özden

https://doi.org/10.5799/jmid.328766

Cited By: 2

Abstract

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an inflammatory and demyelinating disorder of the central nervous
system that is characterized by multifocal involvement of the white matter. Our patient was a 27-year-old female patient
who had given birth to a baby with caesarean in another hospital. After four days upon the parturition, she was admitted
to our hospital’s general intensive care unit with a poor general status, confusion and a fever. She was diagnosed
with ADEM according to the clinical, laboratory and radiological findings. In addition to her antibiotic treatment (meropenem)
that had been given in the previous health care facility, corticosteroid therapy was also started. The patient
passed away due to the ventilator-associated pneumonia infection on the 10th day of her admission. Mycobacterium
tuberculosis proliferation was observed in the cerebrospinal fluid after her death. As it is reported in literature, tuberculosis
is a rare cause of ADEM. In conclusion, it should be noted that M. tuberculosis can be a rare cause of ADEM in
regions where the disease is endemic. J Microbiol Infect Dis 2016;6(1): 28-31

Keywords

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, tuberculosis

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