Leptospiral cerebral arteritis: Report of 4 autopsy cases

Summary This paper presents the autoptical findings of 4 cases of leptospiral cerebral arteritis involving predominantly large arteries at the base of the brain, especially the middle and anterior cerebral arteries. The main pathological change of this basal cerebral polyarteritis is a proliferative endarteritis which may be classified into three types: acute, chronic and oblitero-sclerous. Specific serological tests for leptospirosis were positive in two cases and in one of these two patients spirochetes were found while in the other, immuno-fluorescence positive substance was demonstrated in the involved cerebral arteries. These findings, together with the clinico-epidemiological data, strongly suggest that the cerebral arteritis in our cases should be the result from leptospirochetic infection.