Neuroinvasion by<i>Mycoplasma pneumoniae</i>in Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis

Abstract

We report the autopsy findings for a 45-year-old man with polyradiculoneuropathy and fatal acute disseminated encephalomyelitis after having Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia. M. pneumoniae antigens were demonstrated by immunohistochemical analysis of brain tissue, indicating neuroinvasion as an additional pathogenetic mechanism in central neurologic complications of M. pneumoniae infection.