October 26, 2016 – Duke University School of Medicine/Minnetronix Neuro
Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is a devastating opportunistic infection that primarily presents in immunocompromised patients. CM is caused when Cryptococcus neoformans, a basidiomycete fungal pathogen, invades the central nervous system (CNS) and circulates within cerebospinal fluid (CSF) around the brain and spinal cord in the subarachnoid space. Current treatment guidelines include two weeks of continuous intravenous administration of amphotericin B and flucytosine, and maintaining a fungicidal regimen for six months. The single most important factor impacting survival has been shown to be rapid reduction of C. neoformans organisms in CSF during the first two weeks of infection. This poster describes an experimental filtration system, demonstrating a 1-2 log reduction in CSF organism burden using an infected rabbit model of CM.
Alykhan Premji, Drew Cutshaw, Blake Hedstrom, Charles Giamberardino , Promila Pagadala, PhD, Aaron McCabe, PhD, Shivanand Lad, MD, PhD and John R. Perfect, MD