An unsuspected case of cerebral toxoplasmosis : case report and literature review

We report a case with problematic histopathological diagnosis of cerebral toxoplasmosis because of the patient's unsuspected HIV status, the clinico-radiological impression of metastatic malignancy, and the compounded difficulty of identifying the typical T. gondii organisms in frozen section material. However, this case highlights the need to always contemplate a non-neoplastic infective cause as the basis for observed necrosis in brain biopsies, regardless of the clinical suspicion under which the histopathological examination has been requested.