Cerebral vasculitis in chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis: autopsy case report

An autopsy case of chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMCC) is reported here, in which cerebral vasculitis developed in the final stage. A 32-year-old man who had suffered from superficial candidial infection since his childhood was diagnosed as having CMCC. During the past 7 years the patient had developed various associated disorders including insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), common variable immunodeficiency (CVID), candidial esophagitis, multiple digestive tract ulcers and pyothorax. In 1998, at the age of 32, he developed convulsions that were accompanied by impairment of consciousness, and which were temporarily treated with steroid pulsed-medication. Epileptic status associated with widespread cerebral infarctions occurred subsequently, however, and the patient died of sepsis 2 months later. At autopsy, multiple cerebral infarctions and arterial thrombosis were evident. These were histologically proven to be primary vasculitis which was confined solely to the brain, and this was verified by general pathological examination. Thus, some as yet unknown cerebrovascular factors might be involved in the onset of an autoimmune-related vasculitis in patients with a longstanding immunodeficiency state such as CMCC.