Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Toxoplasma gondii infection in patients with hematological malignancies

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Annals of Hematology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is one of the most common parasitic infections in humans, but in most cases it does not cause serious illness; this protozoan can nevertheless cause devastating disease in immunocompromised hosts such as HIV-positive individuals. Only rarely is toxoplasmosis documented in hematological patients, and among them, those who undergo a transplant procedure are more frequently affected. In a retrospective multicenter survey, we collected data on six cases of toxoplasmosis in hematological patients. In the majority of cases, patients had undergone transplant procedures (five had undergone autologous or allogeneic transplantation). This complication needed special care in diagnosis, usually based on serology, neuroradiology, and PCR examination. However, in our experience the appropriate therapeutic approach was successful in the majority of cases.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. de Medeiros BC, de Medeiros CR, Werner B, Neto JZ, Loddo G, Pasquini R, Bleggi-Torres LF (2000) Central nervous system infections following bone marrow transplantation: an autopsy report of 27 cases. J Hematother Stem Cell Res 9:535–540

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Maschke M, Dietrich U, Prumbaum M, Kastrup O, Turowski B, Schaefer UW, Diener HC (1999) Opportunistic CNS infection after bone marrow transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 23:1167–1176

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Mele A, Patterson PJ, Prentice HG, Leoni P, Kibbler CC (2002) Toxoplasmosis in bone marrow transplantation: a report of two cases and systematic review of the literature. Bone Marrow Transplant 29:691–698

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Singh N, Husain S (2000) Infections of the central nervous system in transplant recipients. Transpl Infect Dis 2:101–111

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Hill D, Dubey JP (2002) Toxoplasma gondii: transmission, diagnosis and prevention. Clin Microbiol Infect 8:634–640

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Collazos J (2003) Opportunistic infections of the CNS in patients with AIDS: diagnosis and management. CNS Drugs 17:869–887

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Martino R, Bretagne S, Rovira M, Ullmann AJ, Maertens J, Held T, Deconinck E, Cordonnier C (2000) Toxoplasmosis after hemopoietic sten transplantation. Report of a 5-year survey from the Infectiuos Disease Working Party of the European Group for blood and marrow transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 25:1111–1114

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Mamidi A, DeSimone J, Pomerantz RJ (2002) Central nervous system infections in individuals with HIV-1 infection. J Neurovirol 8:158–167

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Dietrich U, Maschke M, Dorfler A, Prumbaum M, Forsting M (2000) MRI of intracranial toxoplasmosis after bone marrow transplantation. Neuroradiology 42:14–18

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Martino R, Maertens J, Bretagne S, Rovira M, Deconinck E, Ullmann AJ, Held T, Cordonnier C (2001) Toxoplasmosis after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Clin Infect Dis 31:1188–1195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Fisher MA, Levy J, Helfrich M, August CS, Starr SE, Luft BJ (1987) Detection of Toxoplasma gondii in the spinal fluid of a bone marrow transplant recipient. Pediatr Infect Dis J 6:81–83

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Khoury H, Adkins D, Brown R, Goodnough L, Gokden M, Roberts T, Storch G, DiPersio J (1999) Successful treatment of cerebral toxoplasmosis in a marrow transplant recipient: contribution of a PCR test in diagnosis and early detection. Bone Marrow Transplant 23:409–411

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Cunha BA (2001) Central nervous system infections in the immunocompromised host: a diagnostic approach. Infect Dis Clin North Am 15:567–590

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Costa JM, Munoz C, Kruger D, Martino R, Held TK, Darde ML, Cordonnier C, Bretagne S (2001) Quality control for the diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii reactivation in SCT patients using PCR assays. Bone Marrow Transplant 28:527–528

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Consortia

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Livio Pagano.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Pagano, L., Trapè, G., Putzulu, R. et al. Toxoplasma gondii infection in patients with hematological malignancies. Ann Hematol 83, 592–595 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-004-0898-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00277-004-0898-z

Keywords

Navigation