Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Imaging findings of pulmonary blastomycosis in pediatric patients

  • Thoracic imaging
  • Published:
Pediatric Radiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Blastomycosis is caused by Blastomyces dermatitidis, a thermally dimorphic fungus that lives in the form of spores in the soil in North America. The main mode of transmission is through the inhalation of these spores. Despite the importance of knowing the imaging characteristics of blastomycosis given the suggested high rates of dissemination in symptomatic children, a paucity of literature focuses on the imaging patterns of blastomycosis in the pediatric population. In this review, we describe the main imaging findings of pediatric pulmonary blastomycosis and briefly review extrapulmonary manifestations of the disease. Familiarity with these imaging manifestations is important to aid in rapid diagnosis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16
Fig. 17

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Fanella S, Skinner S, Trepman E, Embil JM (2011) Blastomycosis in children and adolescents: a 30-year experience from Manitoba. Med Mycol 49:627–632

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Anderson EJ, Ahn PB, Yogev R et al (2013) Blastomycosis in children: a study of 14 cases. J Pediatr Infect Dis Soc 2:386–390

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Rozovsky K, Bunge M, Higgins R et al (2019) Imaging patterns of pediatric pulmonary blastomycosis. AJR Am J Roentgenol 212:905–913

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Frost HM, Anderson J, Ivacic L, Meece J (2017) Blastomycosis in children: an analysis of clinical, epidemiologic, and genetic features. J Pediatr Infect Dis Soc 6:49–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Saccente M, Woods GL (2010) Clinical and laboratory update on blastomycosis. Clin Microbiol Rev 23:367–368

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Alkrinawi S, Reed MH, Pasterkamp H (1995) Pulmonary blastomycosis in children: findings on chest radiographs. AJR Am J Roentgenol 165:651–654

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Sheflin JR, Campbell JA, Thompson GP (1990) Pulmonary blastomycosis: findings on chest radiographs in 63 patients. AJR Am J Roentgenol 154:1177–1180

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Ronald S, Strzelczyk J, Moore S et al (2009) Computed tomographic scan evaluation of pulmonary blastomycosis. Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol 20:112–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Fang W, Washington L, Kumar N (2007) Imaging manifestations of blastomycosis: a pulmonary infection with potential dissemination. Radiographics 27:641–655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Pelly L, Al Juaid A, Fanella S (2014) Severe blastomycosis in infants. Pediatr Infect Dis J 33:1189–1191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Chapman SW (2005) Blastomyces dermatitidis. In: Mandell JN, Bennett JE, Dolin R (eds) Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s principles and practice of infectious diseases, 6th edn. Elsevier, Philadelphia, pp 3026–3040

    Google Scholar 

  12. Gauthier G, Klein BS (2014) Chapter 198 — blastomycosis. In: Cherry JD, Harrison GJ (eds) Feigin and Cherry’s textbook of pediatric infectious disease, 7th edn. Elsevier Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 2723–2743

    Google Scholar 

  13. Brick KE, Drolet BA, Lyon VB, Galbraith SS (2013) Cutaneous and disseminated blastomycosis: a pediatric case series. Pediatr Dermatol 30:23–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Oppenheimer M, Embil JM, Black B et al (2007) Blastomycosis of bones and joints. South Med J 100:570–578

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Guler N, Palanduz A, Ones U et al (1995) Progressive vertebral blastomycosis mimicking tuberculosis. Pediatr Infect Dis J 14:816–818

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Saccente M, Abernathy RS, Pappas PG et al (1998) Vertebral blastomycosis with paravertebral abscess: report of eight cases and review of the literature. Clin Infect Dis 26:413–418

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Teijido J, Drendel AL (2019) Disseminated blastomycosis in a teenager presenting with pleural effusion and splenomegaly. J Emerg Med 56:e23–e26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hamann JC, Marberry K (2010) Sentinel presentation of disseminated Blastomyces dermatitidis infection as hip pain in a young adult: a case report. J Bone Joint Surg Am 92:469–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Rucci J, Eisinger G, Miranda-Gomez G, Nguyen J (2014) Blastomycosis of the head and neck. Am J Otolaryngol 35:390–395

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Farr RC, Gardner G, Acker JD et al (1992) Blastomycotic cranial osteomyelitis. Am J Otol 13:582–586

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Bariola JR, Perry P, Pappas PG et al (2010) Blastomycosis of the central nervous system: a multicenter review of diagnosis and treatment in the modern era. Clin Infect Dis 50:797–804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Abrams E, Dean HJ, Bunge MK et al (2011) Blastomycosis of the central nervous system in a child: a rare cause of hypopituitarism. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab 24:775–777

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katya Rozovsky.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

None

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rozovsky, K., Moffatt, H. Imaging findings of pulmonary blastomycosis in pediatric patients. Pediatr Radiol 52, 1974–1984 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-022-05402-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-022-05402-x

Keywords

Navigation