Abstract
A 61-year-old women had been treated with methotrexate (MTX) since May 1993 for rheumatoid arthritis. She developed a high fever on 1 July 1997 and was diagnosed as havingListeria monocytogenes sepsis and meningoencephalitis. The encephalitis progressed inexorably and she died on 12 July. Although MTX is used as a first-line disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug, listeriosis should be remembered as a potentially fatal adverse effect.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
American College of Rheumatology ad hoc committee on clinical guidelines, Guidelines for the management of rheumatoid arthritis,Arthritis Rheum 39, 713–722 (1996).
American College of Rheumatology ad hoc committee on clinical guidelines, Guidelines for monitoring drug therapy in rheumatoid arthritis,Arthritis Rheum 39, 723–731 (1996).
Gipsen JG, Alarcon GS, Johnson JJet al., Toxicity to methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis,J Rheumatol 14, 74–79 (1987).
McCambridge MM, Vogelgesang SA, Ockenhouse CF,Listeria monocytogenes infection in a patient treated with methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis,J Rheumatol 22, 786–787 (1995).
Hayem G, Meyer O, Kahn M-F,Listeria monocytogenes infection in a patient treated with methotrexate for rheumatoid arthritis,J Rheumatol 23, 198–199 (1996).
Tripathy SP, MacKaness GB, The effect of cytotoxic agents on the primary immune response toListeria monocytogenes, J Exp Med 130, 1–16 (1969).
Armstrong D, Listeria monocytogenes, in:Mandell, Douglas and Bennett’s Principles and Practice of Infectious Disease, Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R (Eds), 4th edn, pp. 1880–1885. Churchill Livingstone, New York (1995).
Skogberg K, Syrjanen J, Jahkola Met al., Clinical presentation and outcome of listeriosis in patients with and without immunosuppressive therapy,Clin Infect Dis 14, 815–821 (1992).
Kaufmann SHE, Interleukins, mycobacteria, and listeriae,Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 13, 429–433 (1990).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Mukai, M., Kameda, T., Matsumoto, A. et al. Listeria monocytogenes infection associated with methotrexate treatment for a patient with rheumatoid arthritis. Japanese Journal of Rheumatology 8, 453–459 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03041323
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03041323