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Updated: Mar 17, 2026
Listeria monocytogenes Infection of the Brain
Published on: October 2, 2018
Listeria rhombencephalitis mimicking a demyelinating event in an immunocompetent young patient
Bernhard F Décard1, Jan Thöne2, Aiden Haghikia3
1Department of Neurology, St. Josef-Hospital, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany/Department of Neurology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Background:
Listeriosis caused by listeria monocytogenes (LM) is a potentially lethal foodborne infection of the central nervous system (CNS) and the third most common cause of bacterial meningitis. Foods most commonly implicated are soft cheeses, raw or ready-to-eat meat and pre-processed foods. The incubation time is between 11 and 70 days. Rarely LM rhombencephalitis (RE) can occur, which typically has a biphasic course with non- specific prodromal symptoms like fever, malaise, fatigue, headache, nausea and vomiting followed by cranial nerve palsies, ataxia and hemi- or tetraparesis.
Objective:
To report a 31-year old immunocompetent female developing a severe abscessing RE caused by LM, which was initially assessed as a relapse after a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS).
Methods:
Case report.
Results:
Patients with CIS or multiple sclerosis, who present with brainstem symptoms should be evaluated carefully. The presence of clinical and paraclinical red flags in the diagnostic evaluation of a suspected CNS white matter disease should raise the awareness of clinicians for potential differential diagnoses.
