J Korean Med Sci.  2008 Feb;23(1):153-155. 10.3346/jkms.2008.23.1.153.

Cryptococcal Meningitis Presenting with Isolated Sixth Cranial Nerve Palsy in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. rapark@catholic.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
  • 3Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Cryptococcal meningitis is a rare complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The nonspecific neurologic findings associated with this infection delays accurate diagnosis because initial neuropsychiatric manifestations of SLE are in instances indistinguishable from that of crytococcal meningitis. We report a case of cryptococcal meningitis presenting with unilateral sixth cranial nerve palsy in a male patient with SLE, which was successfully treated with antifungal agents.

Keyword

Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic; Meningitis, Cryptococcal; Abducens Nerve Palsy

MeSH Terms

Abducens Nerve Diseases/*etiology
Adult
Humans
Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic/*complications
Male
Meningitis, Cryptococcal/*etiology

Figure

  • Fig. 1 The second brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) done on the fourth hospital day shows accentuation of leptomeningeal contrast enhancement along the sulci of both cerebral hemisphere in T1-weighted image, findings suggestive of meningitis.


Cited by  1 articles

A Case of Disseminated Crytococcosis in a Patient with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Hye Ryun Jung, Hyun Hee Kwon, Jung-Yoon Choe
J Korean Rheum Assoc. 2010;17(2):194-199.    doi: 10.4078/jkra.2010.17.2.194.


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