A 77-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of low-grade fever and lightheadedness 7 days after the removal of a carious broken tooth. Neurological examination revealed disturbed consciousness and meningeal sign with mild ophthalmoplegia. Cerebrospinal fluid examination showed elevated levels of polymorphonuclear cells and enhanced magnetic resonance imaging revealed a left masticator space abscess. On the basis of these findings, the diagnosis was meningitis complicated by a masticator space abscess. Although her symptoms were ameliorated after the administration of antibiotics, her consciousness deteriorated accompanied by bilateral total ophthalmoplegia. Enhanced head computed tomography revealed a filling defect of the superior orbital veins with enhancement of the cavernous sinus, suggesting cavernous sinus thrombosis. After the addition of anticoagulants to antibiotic therapy and surgical drainage of the abscess, she recovered without residual neurological impairment. Because cavernous sinus thrombosis is potentially life-threatening, early diagnosis and initiation of appropriate therapy are extremely important.

Attempts were made to isolate and identify Korean bovine Babesia parasite. Blood samples were collected from Holstein cows in Korea, and Babesia parasites were propagated in SCID mice with circulating bovine red blood cells for isolation. The isolate was then antigenically and genotypically compared with several Japanese isolates. The Korean parasite was found to be nearly identical to the Oshima strain isolated from Japanese cattle, which was recently designated as Babesia ovata oshimensis n. var. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the most probable tick species that transmited the parasite.
Animals ; Arthropod Vectors/parasitology ; Babesia bovis/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Babesiosis/parasitology ; Base Sequence ; Cattle/*parasitology ; Cattle Diseases/parasitology ; DNA, Protozoan/genetics ; DNA, Ribosomal/genetics ; Erythrocytes/parasitology ; Korea ; Mice ; *Mice, SCID ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Phylogeny ; Ticks/parasitology