Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare otomastoiditis in a young AIDS patient: case report and review of the literature

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome in a patient with HIV/AIDS and immune reconstitution syndrome: a case study and literature review

The etiology of posterior reversible encephalopathy (PRES) is typically multifactorial. Patients with HIV are at risk for the development of this syndrome. We review 17 published cases of HIV and PRES and describe the second reported case of PRES in the setting of HIV and immune reconstitution syndrome (IRIS). IRIS has not yet been described as a risk factor for PRES.

Leukoencephalopathy resolution after atypical mycobacterial treatment: a case report

Background

Association of leukoencephalopathy and atypical mycobacteriosis has been rarely reported. We present a case that is relevant for its unusual presentation and because it may shed further light on the pathogenic mechanisms underlying reversible encephalopathies.

Case report

We report the case of a Hispanic 64-year-old woman with cognitive decline and extensive leukoencephalopathy. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed white-matter lesions with increased water diffusivity, without blood–brain-barrier disruption. Brain biopsy showed tissue rarefaction with vacuolation, mild inflammation, few reactive astrocytes and decreased aquaporin water-channel expression in the lesions. Six months later, she was diagnosed with atypical mycobacterial pulmonary infection. Brain lesions resolved after antimycobacterial treatment.

Conclusion

We hypothesize leukoencephalopathic changes and vasogenic edema were associated with decreased aquaporin expression. Further studies should clarify if reversible leukoencephalopathy has a causal relationship with decreased aquaporin expression and atypical mycobacterial infection, and mechanisms underlying leukoencephalopathy resolution after antimycobacterial treatment. This article may contribute to the understanding of pathogenic mechanisms underlying magnetic resonance imaging subcortical lesions and edema, which remain incompletely understood.

Real time detection of farm-level swine mycobacteriosis outbreak using time series modeling of the number of condemned intestines in abattoirs

Mycobacteriosis in swine is a common zoonosis found in abattoirs during meat inspections, and the veterinary authority is expected to inform the producer for corrective actions when an outbreak is detected. The expected value of the number of condemned carcasses due to mycobacteriosis therefore would be a useful threshold to detect an outbreak, and the present study aims to develop such an expected value through time series modeling. The model was developed using eight years of inspection data (2003 to 2010) obtained at 2 abattoirs of the Higashi-Mokoto Meat Inspection Center, Japan. The resulting model was validated by comparing the predicted time-dependent values for the subsequent 2 years with the actual data for 2 years between 2011 and 2012. For the modeling, at first, periodicities were checked using Fast Fourier Transformation, and the ensemble average profiles for weekly periodicities were calculated. An Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model was fitted to the residual of the ensemble average on the basis of minimum Akaike's information criterion (AIC). The sum of the ARIMA model and the weekly ensemble average was regarded as the time-dependent expected value. During 2011 and 2012, the number of whole or partial condemned carcasses exceeded the 95% confidence interval of the predicted values 20 times. All of these events were associated with the slaughtering of pigs from three producers with the highest rate of condemnation due to mycobacteriosis.