MYCOBACTERIUM GENAVENSE INFECTION PRESENTING AS A SOLITARY BRAIN MASSIN A PATIENT WITH AIDS - CASE-REPORT AND REVIEW

Patients with AIDS are prone to developing infections with opportunist ic pathogens. Recently, a new mycobacterium, Mycobacterium genavense, has been found to cause infection in patients with AIDS. Previously pu blished reports indicate that patients who are infected with this orga nism present with the same clinical features as do patients with disse minated infection due to organisms of the Mycobacterium avium complex. We describe an unusual case of a patient with AIDS who presented with grand mal seizures and a mass lesion in his brain, which was found to be caused by infection with M. genavense. No evidence of disseminated infection could be found in this patient. We discuss the microbiology of this organism and review the literature on M. genavense infections . Clinicians should be aware of this organism so that efforts at cultu re and identification will be made.