Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35165936›Full record

ArticleNeuropathology : official journal of the Japanese Society of Neuropathology2022

An autopsy case of granulomatous amebic encephalitis caused by Balamuthia mandrillaris involving prior amebic dermatitis.

Tatsuro Maehara, Tetsushi Mizuno, Masaharu Tokoro, Tatsuru Hara, Yui Tomita, Kouki Makioka, Sei-Ichiro Motegi, Ayako Yamazaki, Nozomi Matsumura, Sumihito Nobusawa and 1 more

Open access · hybridAbstract readCase Reports
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropathology : official journal of the Japanese Society of Neuropathology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 22% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. The first reported case ofFrontiers in medicine · 2026
    Article
  3. Pulmonary infection due toASM case reports · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Tatsuro MaeharaDepartment of Human Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Tetsushi MizunoDepartment of Global Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.
Masaharu TokoroDepartment of Global Infectious Diseases, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.
Tatsuru HaraDepartment of Parasitology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8154-0321
Yui TomitaDepartment of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Kouki MakiokaDepartment of Neurology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Sei-Ichiro MotegiDepartment of Dermatology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Ayako YamazakiDepartment of Human Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Nozomi MatsumuraDepartment of Human Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Sumihito NobusawaDepartment of Human Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
Hideaki YokooDepartment of Human Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1046-6827
Gunma University · JPKanazawa University · JPKurume University · JP

Funding

Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development 21fk0108095s0303
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

An 82-year-old man, who was healthy and had worked as a farmer, experienced worsening neurological symptoms over a seven-month period, which eventually caused his death. Multiple fluctuating brain lesions were detected radiographically. Clinically, sarcoidosis was ranked high among the differential diagnoses because of the presence of skin lesions showing granulomatous inflammation, confirmed by biopsy. The patient's cerebrospinal fluid was also examined, but no definitive diagnosis was made while he was alive. An autopsy revealed multiple granulomatous amebic encephalitis lesions in the brain. Genetic and immunohistochemical analyses identified Balamuthia (B.) mandrillaris, a free-living ameba, which resides in soil and fresh water, as the causative organism. A retrospective examination revealed B. mandrillaris in the biopsied skin as well as cerebrospinal fluid, strongly suggesting that the ameba had spread into the brain percutaneously. Few studies have detailed the cutaneous pathology of B. mandrillaris infections. In general, granulomatous amebic encephalitis is extremely difficult to diagnose without autopsy, but the present case provides a clue that could allow similar cases to be diagnosed earlier; that is, the presence of skin lesions.

Indexed as

AmebiasisAmoebaBalamuthia mandrillarisDermatitisEncephalitisInfectious EncephalitisAged, 80 and overAutopsyBrainGranulomaHumansMaleRetrospective Studiesamebic dermatitisautopsyBalamuthia mandrillarisfree-living amebagranulomatous amebic encephalitis

Identifiers

PMID35165936
PMCPMC9546287
OpenAlexW4212825729

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.