Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Transverse myelitis due to trypanosomiasis in a middle aged Tanzanian man
  1. G S Kibiki,
  2. D K Murphy
  1. Department of Internal Medicine, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Tumaini University, Moshi, Tanzania
  1. Correspondence to:
 Dr D K Murphy
 Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, Ireland; kevdanmurphy{at}oceanfree.net

Abstract

We report the case of a middle aged Tanzanian man who developed a spinal cord syndrome over 6 weeks, along with a mild encephalopathy. Investigations ruled out the usual major causes of such a syndrome in our setting in northern Tanzania. Examination of his cerebrospinal fluid revealed trypanosomes, and he made a slow but dramatic improvement after a full course of suramine and melarsoprol. We postulate that he had a transverse myelitis due to African trypanosomiasis, a rare and barely recognised cause.

  • CSF, cerebrospinal fluid
  • TB, tuberculosis
  • T brucei
  • Tanzania
  • transverse myelitis
  • trypanosomiasis

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests: none declared