Successful treatment of meningoencephalitis caused by Mycobacterium avium intracellulare in AIDS.

A wide variety of pathologies afflicting the CNS is see in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. We report the case of relapsing meningoencephalitis caused by Mycobacterium avium intracellulare (MAI) in a homosexual male with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in whom repeated use of polymerase chain reaction was required to detect MAI-specific DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid. Successful responses to early empirical antibiotic combination treatment, including the drugs clarithromycin and rifabutin, were demonstrated by clinical, EEG, and CSF improvement during an 8-month period. To our knowledge, this study presents the first known patient with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome effectively treated for MAI meningoencephalitis and suggests that modern antimycobacterial combination therapy may improve the poor prognosis of CNS infections with nontuberculous mycobacteria.