Toxoplasma gondii Myocarditis after Adult Heart Transplantation: Successful Prophylaxis with Pyrimethamine
Figure 1
Photomicrographs of the endomyocardial biopsy. (a) In this region of the myocardium, a small Toxoplasma pseudocyst was noted in one cardiomyocyte (arrow). The inset shows amplification of this area, as indicated by the arrow. The presence of round corpuscles consistent with T. gondii tachyzoites near the cardiomyocyte nucleus was noted. (b) In another region of the myocardium within the same endomyocardial biopsy sample, there were moderate amounts of mononuclear infiltrates with aggression and destruction of the cardiomyocyte. This led to the misdiagnosis of rejection, even though it was subsequently determined that this case of myocarditis was caused by T. gondii. ((a) and (b) Hematoxylin and eosin stain with objective 40 in all images and digital zoom at the inset).
