A 30-year-old manual laborer from Karnataka, India presented with intermittent low grade fever and diffuse headache for 1 month. On examination, patient had enlarged supraclavicular and cervical lymph nodes. Patient had positive Kernig's sign and neck stiffness. Motor, sensory and cranial nerve examinations were within the normal limits. Abdominal, cardiovascular and chest examination did not yield any positive findings. Contrast enhanced computed tomography head was normal. Patient was suspected to have extrapulmonary tuberculosis. Patient was started on antitubercular drugs. Diagnostic lumbar puncture was performed. Wet mount and Giemsa smear preparation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) showed trophozoites suggestive of Acanthamoeba. CSF was cultured onto non-nutrient agar with an overlay of Escherichia coli. Wet mount made from the culture media yielded cysts and trophozoites of Acanthamoeba spp. Patient was diagnosed with Acanthamoeba meningitis and was started on specific therapy with Rifampicin 600 mg once a day, Cotrimoxazole 960 mg twice-a-day and Fluconazole 400 mg once daily for 2 weeks. Patient had a complete recovery and was discharged from the hospital.
Background: The incidence of end stage renal disease is on the rise and most of these patients are undergoing dialysis either through tunnelled/non tunnelled dialysis catheters or through arteriovenous fistulas/grafts. The dialysis grafts and fistulas have limited durability of about 3 years and are more prone for thrombosis and stenosis. Catheter directed interventions are successful in establishing flow in most of the thrombosed fistulas, but require dedicated Cath lab and tertiary care centre. Needle directed thrombolysis is a novel economical, safe technique for thrombolysis of dialysis fistulas and grafts. The aim of the studt is to review the technique, safety, efficacy of needle directed pulse spray pharmacomechanical thrombolysis of dialysis fistulas and grafts with short term follow up. Subjects and Methods: This was a prospective observational study done in department of Radio diagnosis, Narayana medical college, Nellore. Selectively 25 patients with thrombosed AV fistulas were referred from nephrology OPD for needle directed thrombolysis to our department from December 2018 to May 2019. The procedure was performed on OPD basis in ultrasound procedure room. Regular Doppler follow up of patients is done up to 6 months. Results: Out of twenty five cases about seventeen cases (68%) were successful in achieving adequate recanalization in single session. four cases (16%) required repeat sessions of thrombolysis and were successful in second attempt. In four cases (16%) there was failure in attaining adequate recanalization due to marked multisegment attenuation/flow limiting stenosis of the draining vein. Conclusion: Needle directed Pulse spray pharmacomechanical thrombolysis is a novel technique, which can be done bedside, under portable ultrasound guidance and is an economical procedure as no intervention hardware is required. Continuous monitoring allows procedure to be stopped at the earliest once there is optimal recanalization, minimizing the systemic side effects of thrombolytic agents.
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