Abstract
We present the case of an immunocompetent 55-year-old woman, treated with corticosteroids, developing a cerebral fungal infection with autoptic ascertainment of aspergillosis and mucormycosis. This is the first report of cerebral co-infection by mucorales and aspergillus in an immunocompetent host. A possible explanation is that corticosteroids, even if taken for a short time, led to a transient lowering of immune function and contributed to negative outcome.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alfano C, Chiummariello S, Dessy LA, Bistoni G, Scuderi N (2006) Combined mucormycosis and aspergillosis of the rhinocerebral region. In Vivo 20:311–315
Chermetz M, Gobbo M, Rupel K, Ottaviani G, Tirelli G, Bussani R, Luzzati R, Di Lenarda R, Biasotto M (2016) Combined orofacial aspergillosis and mucormycosis: fatal complication of a recurrent paediatric glioma-case report and review of literature. Mycopathologia. 181:723–733
Chong GM, Maertens JA, Lagrou K, Driessen GJ, Cornelissen JJ, Rijnders BJ (2016) Diagnostic performance of galactomannan antigen testing in cerebrospinal fluid. J Clin Microbiol 54:428–431
Gómez-López A, Cuenca-Estrella M, Monzón A, Rodriguez-Tudela JL (2001) In vitro susceptibility of clinical isolates of Zygomycota to amphotericin B, flucytosine, itraconazole and voriconazole. J Antimicrob Chemother 48:919–921
Lewis R, Liao G, Wang W, Prince R, Kontoyiannis D (2011) Voriconazole pre-exposure selects for breakthrough mucormycosis in a mixed model of Aspergillus fumigatus-Rhizopus oryzae pulmonary infection. Virulence 2:348–355
Patterson TF, Thompson GR 3rd, Denning DW, Fishman JA, Hadley S, Herbrecht R, Kontoyiannis DP, Marr KA, Morrison VA, Nguyen MH, Segal BH, Steinbach WJ, Stevens DA, Walsh TJ, Wingard JR, Young JA, Bennett JE (2016) Practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of aspergillosis: 2016 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin Infect Dis 63:e1–e60
Pellacchia V, Terenzi V, Moricca LM, Buonaccorsi S, Indrizzi E, Fini G (2006) Brain abscess by mycotic and bacterial infection in a diabetic patient: clinical report and review of literature. J Craniofac Surg 17:578–584
Ren Z, Laumann AE, Silverberg JI (2019) Association of dermatomyositis with systemic and opportunistic infections in the United States. Arch Dermatol Res 311:377–387
Rickerts V, Just-Nübling G, Konrad F, Kern J, Lambrecht E, Böhme A, Jacobi V, Bialek R (2006) Diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis and mucormycosis in immunocompromised patients by seminested PCR assay of tissue samples. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 25:8–13
Spellberg B, Edwards J Jr, Ibrahim A (2005) Novel perspectives on mucormycosis: pathophysiology, presentation, and management. Clin Microbiol Rev 18:556–569
Tripathi M, Mohindra S (2018) Rhinocerebral aspergillosis. Lancet. 392:e8
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mantero, V., Basilico, P., Pozzetti, U. et al. Concomitant cerebral aspergillosis and mucormycosis in an immunocompetent woman treated with corticosteroids. J. Neurovirol. 26, 277–280 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-019-00804-4
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-019-00804-4