Resumo

GARCIA, Elena Noris et al. Neuroimmunology of meningoencephalitis caused by cytomegalovirus in immunocompetent patients. Rev cubana med [online]. 2006, vol.45, n.4. ISSN 0034-7523.

It is known that human infection caused by cytomegalovirus (CMV) has an increasing significance in modern medicine due to the great number of diseases it produces, depending on the immunological status of the subject. In patients presenting with imunocompetence, the meningoencephalitis caused by CMV is exceptional. A general review of this topic was made, including the report of a young adult with no history of immunosuppressive pathologies with meningoencephalitis caused by CMV that was subjected to a neuroimmunological study. A marked dysfunction of blood-CSF barrier, and intrathecal synthesis of classes IgA and IgM were observed. The IgG-ratio (CSF/serum) was below IgA ratio, and the levels of lactic acid were high. The detection of CMV antigens by PCR confirmed the diagnosis. It was concluded that the neuroimmunological study showed atypical features according to the reported in literature, and that it may help in the diagnosis of other cases with a similar presentation

Palavras-chave : Meningoencephalitis; human cytomegalovirus; intrathecal synthesis.