Disseminated acanthamoeba infection, an amebic infection characterizedby granulomatous infiltrates in the brain and skin, usuallyoccurs in immunocompromised or debilitated patients and generallyprogresses to death. There has been no effective therapy. Wereport on a patient who had undergone renal transplantationand was receiving triple immunosuppressive therapy when widespreadgranulomatous skin lesions caused by Acanthamoeba rhysodes developed.Antimicrobial therapy was initiated with a four-week courseof intravenous pentamidine isethionate, topical chlorhexidinegluconate, and 2 percent ketoconazole cream. The result wasa dramatic improvement in the skin lesions. Cyclosporine levelsremained stable, but therapy was complicated by signs of . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Case Report
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From the Departments of Dermatology (C.A.S., A.A.G.), Pathology (J.Z.S.), and Medicine, Nephrology Unit (R.C.P.), University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, N.Y.; and the Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta (G.S.V.).
Address reprint requests to Dr. Gaspari at the University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Ave., Box 697, Rochester, NY 14642.
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