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Volume 32, Number 7—July 2026
Synopsis
Neurosurgical Biopsy and Resection for Diagnosis and Treatment of Balamuthia mandrillaris Amebic Encephalitis, United States
Beenish Rubbab1, Ammar Adenwalla1, Natasha Spottiswoode, Julia C. Haston, Sarah Firmani, Sumit Singh, Veena Rajaram, Jay Ramos, Ibne Karim M. Ali, Brett Whittemore, and Natasha W. Hanners
Table
Analyses of outcomes between resection and biopsy groups in study of neurosurgical biopsy and resection for diagnosis and treatment of Balamuthia mandrillaris amebic encephalitis, United States
| Category | No. (%) cases* |
Statistically significant difference between groups† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resection, n = 20 | Biopsy, n = 48 | ||
| New lesions after procedure | |||
| Y | 9 (45) | 17 (35) | N (p = 0.75)‡ |
| N | 6 (20) | 9 (19) | |
| Not clear |
5 (25) |
22 (46) |
|
| Survival | |||
| Y | 7 (35) | 8 (17) | N (p = 0.12) |
| N |
13 (65) |
40 (83) |
|
| Steroids | |||
| Y | 9 (45) | 27 (56) | N (p = 0.43) |
| Not reported | 11 (55) | 21 (44) | |
*Includes case from this study. †For yes/no responses only. Method used Fisher exact test. ‡For new lesions, the “not clear” cases were omitted from statistical analysis.
1These authors contributed equally to this article.
Page created: June 10, 2026
Page updated: June 23, 2026
Page reviewed: June 23, 2026
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