Cord blood transplantation after successful treatment of brain abscess caused by Bacillus cereus in a patient with acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract

Central nervous system infection caused by Bacillus cereus is a rare condition, which often progresses rapidly and is fatal in immunocompromised patients. A 54-year-old woman with acute myelogenous leukemia fell into a coma with high fever during severe neutropenia while undergoing chemotherapy. A blood culture demonstrated the presence of B. cereus and magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple abnormal lesions in her brain. The patient was treated with meropenem and vancomycin, and recovered from the coma in a week. Antibiotic therapy was administered for seven weeks, and then she underwent cord blood transplantation for refractory acute myelogenous leukemia with successful engraftment without exacerbation of the brain abscess. This case demonstrates that brain abscess caused by B. cereus can be treated without surgical treatment.