Asymptomatic Toxoplasmosis

Abstract

On October 22, 1945, a 29 year old mestizo Salvadorean who had been working on the Isthmus of Panama for a year, despondent over a love affair, slashed his wrists and jumped off a 40 foot cliff. Necropsy disclosed that death was due to trauma to the brain, spinal cord, and liver. The heart weighed 350 grams and grossly appeared normal. In a section taken from the left ventricular wall was a cyst-like structure measuring 54 × 96 microns composed of closely packed fusiform bodies each measuring 1 × 5 microns (Figure 1). Two hundred and seventy parasites could be counted in one focal plane under oil immersion objective. Each tiny body contained a small basophilic nucleus and slightly eosinophilic cytoplasm. No distinct capsule was seen There was no striation of the limiting membrane and no trabeculae divided the cyst.