Ef. Marley et al., FATAL BACILLUS-CEREUS MENINGOENCEPHALITIS IN AN ADULT WITH ACUTE MYELOGENOUS LEUKEMIA, Southern medical journal, 88(9), 1995, pp. 969-972
Bacillus cereus, a ubiquitous, endospore-forming, aerobic gram-positiv
e bacillus, is primarily associated with toxin-mediated food poisoning
. Frequently, isolates of Bacillus species from clinical specimens are
dismissed as contaminants. We report a rapidly fatal case of dissemin
ated infection due to B cereus in a patient receiving induction chemot
herapy for M0 acute leukemia. A short clinical syndrome of nausea and
vomiting preceded neurologic symptoms. Autopsy showed extensive mening
oencephalitis with subarachnoid hemorrhage and multiple liver abscesse
s. Areas of necrosis were devoid of any inflammatory response consiste
nt with a severely immunocompromised state. The organism was isolated
from immediate premortem and autopsy blood specimens. This case illust
rates the possibility and severity of true B cereus infections in immu
nocompromised patients, the clinicopathologic features of which are as
yet not well defined.