Eosinophilic Meningoencephalitis Caused by a Metastrongylid Lung-Worm of Rats

Abstract

As part of a study on eosinophilic meningitis in the Pacific area, postmortem material was examined from 2 mental patients who died in Hawaii with an eosinophilic meningoencephalitis. A number of young adult nematodes, identified as<i>Angiostrongylus cantonensis</i>, a rat lungworm, were found in the brain and meninges of 1 patient. Foreign material in the brain of the second patient and a cellular reaction similar to that observed in the first case suggested that this person also may have been infected with the same parasite. The presence of other abnormalities precluded an attempt to determine how many of either patient's symptoms might have been caused by this parasite. It was also not determined how either patient may have become infected.