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Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Eosinophilic meningitis is due to infestation of the nervous system by the larvae of Angiostrongylus cantonensis. The infection is from infected prawns and slugs. In a study of 54 patients from Tahiti the leading symptoms were headaches, neck stiffness, limb pains and sometimes a facial palsy. The diagnosis is made by examination of the CSF when the leucocytes are usually over 100/mm3 and over half are eosinophilic cells. The blood eosinophil count is often raised, above 400/mm3. The disease is self-limiting and there is no known specific treatment.
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PMID:Eosinophilic meningitis in Tahiti: clinical study of 54 patients. 28 29

A patient with eosinophilic meningitis in Shizuoka Prefecture, Honshu, Japan had nausea, vomiting and headache on admission; laboratory examinations revealed leukocytosis with eosinophilia. Eight days later neck stiffness appeared. Lumbar puncture showed an increase of the initial pressure in association with eosinophilic pleocytosis in the spinal fluid. The possibility of angiostrongylosis was considered because the patient had eaten raw slugs for 4 years as a remedy for lumbago. Although the serum contained cross-reactive antibodies against Toxocara canis, positive reactions to Angiostrongylus cantonensis antigens were observed in all of the immunological tests made. These observations, together with results of epidemiological studies in Honshu carried out by other investigators, suggest that the present case of eosinophilic meningitis may have been caused by A. cantonensis. One previous case has been reported from Honshu Island, Japan.
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PMID:Eosinophilic meningitis: a suspected case of angiostrongylosis found in Shizuoka Prefecture, Honshu, Japan. 43 13

Between 1959 and 1976, 34 patients were seen in Hawaii with eosinophilic meningitis. Angiostrongylus cantonensis was recovered from two of these patients. The remaining cases were presumed to be due to this parasite because of clinical and epidemiologic findings. The most likely source of infection for eight patients was ingesting raw terrestrial snails or slugs, and for six patients eating raw or poorly cooked crustaceans. Patients typically presented with severe headache; neck stiffness and fever were usually mild or absent. Paresthesias were noted by most adults. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cell count ranged from 150 to 1500 leukocytes per cubic millimeter, with a mean eosinophil percentage of 38. CSF IgE levels were not abnormal in four patients so studied. Although two deaths occurred, the illness was typically self-limited, resolving completely with no specific treatment.
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PMID:Clinical manifestations of eosinophilic memingitis due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis. 57 19

We report a case of eosinophilic meningitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis. This patient, a 50-year-old male, had been eating uncooked slugs for 40 years. His chief complaints on admission were headache, fever and general fatigue. Neurological examination and CT findings were normal, but the CSF contained increased cells, most of which were eosinophilic cells. The presence of eosinophilic cells in the CSF is by itself abnormal. We therefore suspected eosinophilic meningitis and performed immunological tests. Since the gelatin particle method and immunological antigen antibody reaction were positive. We diagnosed the patient as having eosinophilic meningitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis. There are only 27 reported cases of this disease in Japan, and most of them have been reported in Okinawa-Prefecture.
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PMID:[A case of eosinophilic meningitis due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis]. 143 77

Three members of a family developed eosinophilic myelomeningoencephalitis following ingestion of Pila snails. They were father, daughter and son and had similar clinical presentations. Two days after ingestion of snails, they developed a generalized itchy maculopapular rash followed by myalgia, marked paresthesia, fever and headache. Two days later there was weakness of the extremities which was progressive in severity involving the legs more than the arms. They later developed urine retention and cloudiness of consciousness. Two patients progressed to coma, one of whom died after 3 weeks and the other died at home 9 months after the onset. Autopsy of the fatal case revealed multiple tracks and cavities with the presence of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in the brain and various levels of the spinal cord.
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PMID:Eosinophilic myelomeningoencephalitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis: a report of three cases. 194 89

4 cases of eosinophilic meningoencephalitis in Hong Kong are described. The major clinical features of the patients, who were 2-60 years old, were low grade fever, headache, mild meningeal signs, right facial palsy or hemiplegia. Eosinophilia in the peripheral blood and eosinophilic pleocytosis were prominent. Computerized tomography scans of brain showed a small area of attenuation with surrounding hypodense area; the lesion was resolved 1-2 months after admission to hospital. Electroencephalograms revealed abnormally slow dysrhythmia. Sections of a nematode observed in the brain of a patient who died were identified as those of young adult Angiostrongylus cantonensis. High ELISA titres against the crude antigens of this nematode were also noted in the serum of 3 patients. The disease is probably under-recognized in Hong Kong.
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PMID:Four documented cases of eosinophilic meningoencephalitis due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis in Hong Kong. 345 2

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the most common etiological agent of eosinophilic meningitis. Adults are harbored in the pulmonary arteries of rats. Larvae develop within various natural (mollusks) and paratenic (snails...) hosts. After ingestion, larvae reach the human central nervous system where they cannot complete their life cycle. This zoonosis is usually seen in Southeast Asia and South Pacific islands. Nevertheless, a few imported cases have been reported in Western countries, possible because of the incubation delay. Mild meningeal irritation signs, paresthesia, cranial nerve abnormalities (i.e: II, III, VI, VII) are the most usual by encountered signs. Severe cases with brain involvement have been reported. In endemic areas, typical clinical signs associated with C.S.F. eosinophilic pleocytosis allow the diagnosis but Elisa test may be useful. Prognosis is always excellent even if headache and malaise may last a few weeks. No antihelminthic agent is efficient against Angiostrongylus cantonensis. Prophylaxia by public health counselling program is fruitful.
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PMID:[Eosinophilic meningitis due to Angiostrongylus cantonensis]. 977 48

Human parasitic infections are uncommon outside the tropical north but common in animals throughout Australia. The rat lung worm, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, can invade the human brain to cause a chronic meningitis with prolonged headache. This condition can be diagnosed by finding a high eosinophil count in cerebrospinal fluid (CFS), the lumbar puncture also provides symptomatic relief. The outcome is usually benign but death has been reported.
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PMID:Eosinophilic meningitis. An unusual cause of headache. 1043 25

In the past 50 years, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, the most common cause of eosinophilic meningitis, has spread from Southeast Asia to the South Pacific, Africa, India, the Caribbean, and recently, to Australia and North America, mainly carried by cargo ship rats. Humans are accidental, "dead-end" hosts infected by eating larvae from snails, slugs, or contaminated, uncooked vegetables. These larvae migrate to the brain, spinal cord, and nerve roots, causing eosinophilia in both spinal fluid and peripheral blood. Infected patients present with severe headache, vomiting, paresthesias, weakness, and occasionally visual disturbances and extraocular muscular paralysis. Most patients have a full recovery; however, heavy infections can lead to chronic, disabling disease and even death. There is no proven treatment for this disease. In the authors' experience, corticosteroids have been helpful in severe cases to relieve intracranial pressure as well as neurologic symptoms due to inflammatory responses to migrating and eventually dying worms.
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PMID:Angiostrongylus cantonensis eosinophilic meningitis. 1046 Sep 29

Two cases of eosinophilic meningitis who presented with headache and strabismus are reported. Pertinent physical examination revealed unilateral horizontal conjugate gaze palsy with absence of doll's eye maneuver and hemiparesis. The etiologic agent of eosinophilic meningitis is presumed to be Angiostrongylus cantonensis and the infected location that produce horizontal conjugate gaze palsy was a pontine lesion.
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PMID:Horizontal conjugate gaze palsy in eosinophilic meningitis. 1077 76


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