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CASE REPORT article

Front. Med.

Sec. Infectious Diseases: Pathogenesis and Therapy

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1560635

Intracranial infection in an adult caused by Mycoplasma hominis, diagnosed using mNGS technology: a case report

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, China
  • 2 Harrison International Peace Hospital, Hengshui, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Mycoplasma hominis is a rare cause of adult central nervous system infections, posing significant diagnostic challenges due to its fastidious growth requirements and high false-negative rate in conventional cultures. We report a case of Mycoplasma hominis meningoencephalitis in a postpartum female, diagnosed via metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The patient presented with fever, headache, and progressive neurological deficits following a cesarean section. Neuroimaging revealed a subdural hematoma, and CSF analysis demonstrated an inflammatory response. mNGS identified Mycoplasma hominis, prompting targeted antimicrobial therapy with moxifloxacin and doxycycline, which led to significant clinical improvement. This case underscores the utility of mNGS in detecting rare intracranial infections and highlights the critical role of early pathogen identification in optimizing treatment outcomes.

    Keywords: Mycoplasma hominis, adults, Meningoencephalitis, metagenomic next-generation sequencing, diagnosis, case report

    Received: 17 Jan 2025; Accepted: 17 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Mu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hebo Wang, Hebei General Hospital, Shijiazhuang, 050051, Hebei Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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