Michelle Eventov Kristin Weider Raef Fadel Ahmad Omar Aljamal Fan Chen Mohammed Ferras Dabbagh
Henry Ford Health System
05-01-2019
Case Presentation: A 33-year-old male without significant medical history experienced visual changes, left-sided tingling and weakness, vertigo, nausea, and mild expressive aphasia for 2 months. At th..
Case Presentation: A 33-year-old male without significant medical history experienced visual changes, left-sided tingling and weakness, vertigo, nausea, and mild expressive aphasia for 2 months. At that time he had mild upper extremity tremor and was able to walk, drive, and perform activities of daily living. On physical exam at Henry Ford Hospital, the patient demonstrated left upper extremity dysdiadochokinesia, bilateral upper extremity dysmetria, slowed speech, and extreme nausea and vomiting. Lower extremities showed bilateral dysdiadochokinesia although no dysmetria. He had moderate strength (3-4/5) throughout, although movement was limited by severe nausea. The patient denied intravenous drug use (IVDU) or male sexual partners, but reported having multiple female sexual partners.His primary care physician had ordered magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for suspected multiple sclerosis, which showed demyelination and a large left cerebellar lesion with high signal intensity on T2/FLAIR. Smaller lesions with similar characteristics were present in the cortex of the right thalamus, bilateral occipital lobes, right parietal lobe, and left frontal lobe. In the inpatient setting, a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test was positive with a CD4 count of 35 cells/μL. Positive cerebrospinal fluid polymerase chain reaction for John Cunningham (JC) virus confirmed the diagnosis of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML).The patient was started on antiretroviral therapy (ART). He was encouraged to participate in physical and occupational therapy with the hope of optimizing his functional ability. He was closely monitored in the hospital for signs of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS). Discussion: PML is caused by JC virus reactivation, almost exclusively manifesting in immunodeficient patients and most often affecting those with CD4 counts