Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome with disseminated toxoplasmosis presenting as an acute pulmonary and gastrointestinal illness

Abstract

Encephalitis due to the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii has emerged as a common cause of central nervous system disease in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Extraneural disease is less common and more difficult to diagnose. We report a case of widely disseminated toxoplasmosis that presented as acute gastrointestinal and pulmonary disease in a patient without a prior diagnosis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The diagnosis of toxoplasmosis was made only at autopsy. Antemortem diagnosis of disseminated T gondii infection requires a high degree of clinical suspicion and the prompt utilization of appropriate diagnostic testing. Since toxoplasmosis is a potentially treatable opportunistic infection, diagnosis allows the swift institution of anti-Toxoplasma therapy.