1/37. Systemic mycoses during prophylactical use of liposomal amphotericin b (Ambisome) after liver transplantation.We investigated the prophylactical administration of liposomal amphotericin b (Ambisome) in the early phase after liver transplantation (LTx). Fifty-eight patients received Ambisome prophylactically after LTx. Ambisome (1 mg kg-1 day-1) was given intravenously for 7 days after LTx. Immunosuppressive prophylaxis was cyclosporin A (CsA) based in 11 patients. Forty-seven patients had a tacrolimus-based immunosuppressive regimen. CsA and tacrolimus dosages were adjusted to trough levels of 150-250 ng ml-1 (EMIT) and 5-15 ng ml-1 (MEIA II) respectively. Three patients died from sepsis due to aspergillus fumigatus infection. Reasons for a fatal outcome were foudroyant Aspergillus pneumonia in a patient transplanted for fulminant hepatic failure on post-operative day (pod) 8; Aspergillus sepsis with severe endocardidtis in a patient with two retransplantations for graft non/dysfunction on pod 24; and disseminated aspergillosis due to aspergillus fumigatus in a patient retransplanted for primary non-function (pod 19). All three patients underwent haemofiltration for renal failure. One patient with candida albicans sepsis (pod 4) recovered under increased dosage of Ambisome (3 mg kg-1 per day). Ambisome (1 mg kg-1 per day) seems to be beneficial against systemic Candida infections. However, the onset of systemic Aspergillus infections could not be prevented. Obviously, higher Ambisome doses appear to be necessary against Aspergillus. We recommend the use of Ambisome (3 mg kg-1 per day) for patients with risk factors such as graft dys-/non-function, retransplantation, haemofiltration and complicated acute liver failure to prevent invasive aspergillosis.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/37. Disseminated fusarium infection identified by the immunohistochemical staining in a patient with a refractory leukemia.The difficulty and uncertainty encountered in diagnosing a systemic mycosis often lead to a delay in starting antifungal therapy. We reported a disseminated infection of multiple fungal isolates including fusarium species during donor leukocyte transfusion (DLT) after allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in a 20-year-old woman with a refractory leukemia. skin lesions are the feature of fusarium and occur in the early period of the infection. In this case, during immunosuppression state after DLT, she presented with the whole body ache and erythematous lesions which appeared rapidly on her trunk and extremities. While administration of amphotericin b was started, her condition was further deteriorated and she died. autopsy materials revealed that she had multiple fungal infection with different isolates, including Aspergillus and Candida in the brain, lung and liver, but not in the skin. With the immunohistochemical staining with specific antibody, fusarium or Aspergillus infection was identified from the biopsy skin or autopsy brain, respectively. This rapid and specific immunohistochemical method may be useful for the diagnosis and treatment of invasive fungal infection without delay.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/37. Fungal endophthalmitis after a single intravenous administration of presumably contaminated dextrose infusion fluid.PURPOSE: To report fungal endophthalmitis in nonimmunocompromised patients, each of whom received a single intravenous administration of presumably contaminated dextrose infusion fluid for minor ailments in rural settings. methods: This noncomparative case series included 12 nonimmunocompromised patients (12 eyes) with culture-positive fungal endophthalmitis. All eyes underwent initial vitreous tap with injection of intravitreal antibiotics. Eleven eyes required pars plana vitrectomy and oral fluconazole or itraconazole for 4 to 6 weeks. One patient with panophthalmitis was treated with intravenous amphotericin b. To support the hypothesis that contaminated intravenous fluid was the possible risk factor, samples from 72 sealed bottles of 5% dextrose were subjected to fungal culture. RESULTS: patients presented 1 to 11 weeks (mean, 4.6 weeks) after the intravenous infusion. All eyes had a positive smear and cultures for fungi. Aspergillus specimen was isolated in nine eyes, Candida in two eyes, and mucor in one eye. Final visual acuity was 20/80 or better in 8 (66.6%) eyes. Eleven of the 72 samples from dextrose bottles were culture-positive for fungi: six for aspergillus fumigatus, three for aspergillus niger, and two for candida albicans. CONCLUSION: A presumed contaminated intravenous infusion administered in a rural setting was found as a new risk factor for development of endogenous fungal endophthalmitis. These patients were successfully treated with pars plana vitrectomy and oral fluconazole and itraconazole therapy.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 5keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/37. Case report. Pathohistological findings in a clinical case of disseminated infection with fusarium oxysporum.Despite appropriate antimicrobial and antifungal therapy (amphotericin b), a disseminated infection with fusarium oxysporum in a 75-year-old immunocompromised patient (acute myeloid leukaemia, minimal leucocyte count of 0.5 giga l-1) led rapidly to death. A similarly fatal course of an F. oxysporum infection has been reported in several cases. fusarium oxysporum could be isolated shortly before death from blood cultures and from a swab taken from skin efflorescences. An autopsy revealed histopathologically typical fungal infiltrates in the mucosa of the pharynx, epiglottis, trachea, and oesophagus and in the parenchyma of the spleen, the lung and both kidneys. Because of the high risk of a fatal outcome of this infection, the clinician should aim at maximum diagnostic enforcement. We propose both analysis of blood cultures and immediate skin biopsy--with PAS-staining--of suspicious dermal efflorescences for microscopic examination. The treatment of choice is discussed controversially but a beneficial effect has been reported from granulocyte transfusion, subcutaneous administration of GM-CSF and concomitant treatment with amphotericin b.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/37. A case of cutaneous ulcerative alternariosis: rare association with diabetes mellitus and unusual failure of itraconazole treatment.alternaria species are ubiquitous dematiaceous fungi that are increasingly recognized as pathogens in immunocompromised patients or those with significant underlying disease, but they are also pathogens in otherwise healthy hosts. We describe a case of dermal cutaneous ulcerative alternariosis in a frail 83-year-old patient with diet-controlled diabetes mellitus. Histological analysis revealed hyphal morphology in tissue sections that was initially confused with that of a zygomycetous fungus, and multiple positive culture results were necessary to identify the organism. Treatment with oral itraconazole and surgical debridement were ineffective; clinical improvement was achieved by means of treatment with intravenous amphotericin b lipid complex. We review the literature regarding the role of diabetes mellitus in cutaneous alternariosis and regarding the efficacy of treatment with itraconazole, which has been used very successfully. To our knowledge, this is only the second case report noting diabetes mellitus uncomplicated by steroid administration as a possible predisposing factor for cutaneous infection.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/37. Systemic fusariosis after a preparative regimen including thiotepa, VP-16 and busulfan used for blood stem cell transplantation in Hodgkin's disease.fusarium infection is rare but important infection after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). A 27-year-old man developed systemic fusarial infection following severe skin damage probably caused by high-dose thiotepa administration. Systemic fusariosis rapidly progressed to a variety of organs despite antifungal treatment, and he finally died of this infection on day 75. Considering that this organism usually invades via damaged skin and that the penile lesion was the first manifestation of systemic fusariosis in this patient, careful examination of the skin might be helpful for early diagnosis of fusarial infection. His clinical course provided us with an important clue for diagnosis of fusarial infection.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/37. Case report. Disseminated infection of Blastoschizomyces capitatus in a patient with acute myelocytic leukaemia.Blastoschizomyces capitatus infection in a 48-year-old man with acute myelocytic leukaemia is reported. A multiorgan involvement and fulminant course of the fungal infection resulted in the patient's death despite fluconazole prophylaxis, therapy with amphotericin b and administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Predisposing factors to the infection, clinical relevance of surveillance strains and in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing are discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/37. Invasive fungal infections: evolving challenges for diagnosis and therapeutics.Invasive fungal infections (IFI) parallel the explosive increase in the immunocompromized patient population, and are characterized by diagnostic difficulties and extreme mortality. candidemia in a tertiary referral hospital in the middle east confirms the current epidemiologic shift in this common blood stream pathogen towards non-malignancy cases (38%) and antifungal prophylaxis failure (20%), high presentation sepsis scores and attributable mortality (32%). Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is also associated with high mortality. Use of non-invasive computerized tomographic (CT) radiologic scanning linked to early administration of high dose liposomal amphotericin b (LAB) is associated with a reduced mortality of 9.5% compared to historical experience of 28%.life threatening invasive aspergillosis also occurs in patients who are less obviously immunocompromized. Investigations may reveal subtle immune deficits which could place the patient at some risk for an invasive mycosis. Antifungal treatment used in combination with progenitor cell growth factors and gamma-interferon has proved successful in such situations of progressive fungal disease unresponsive to antifungal therapy alone.Pharmacologic remodeling of existing compounds by lipidisation reduces both the toxicity denominator and the efficacy numerator of the therapeutic index when compared to the parent drug. A comparative dose study of liposomal amphotericin b in aspergillosis has demonstrated equi-efficacy, generated debate over the ability of the controlled clinical trial to be capable of assessing antifungal efficacy, and illustrated that recovery from an invasive fungal infection may require maximum tolerated doses and immunomanipulation.Several new antifungal strategies are under clinical investigation. These include reformulating existing antifungals, exploitation of the growing knowledge of virulence factors to synthesize antagonists, immune reconstitution and immunoprotection. An interim analysis of an ongoing placebo controlled study of recombinant interleukin-11 to assess its efficacy in reducing sepsis in leukemia patients through prevention of chemotherapy induced gut epithelial cell apoptosis, has demonstrated a difference in the two study arms in sepsis rates and preservation of gastrointestinal epithelial cell integrity.The unique and special challenges presented by the dynamic epidemiologics of invasive fungal infections are demanding and attracting considerable responses, in the fields of diagnosis and therapeutics. Current strategies need considerable improvement, yet ongoing collaborative efforts will have a positive impact on our understanding of the fungus-host interaction and ultimately our ability to offer better care for our patients with invasive mycoses.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
9/37. Catheter-related sepsis due to rhodotorula glutinis.We describe a central venous catheter-related (Port-A-Cath; Smiths Industries Medical Systems [SIMS] Deltec, Inc., St. Paul, Minn.) infection caused by rhodotorula glutinis in a 51-year-old man with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. He was treated with fluconazole for 8 weeks and had the catheter removed. Two isolates of R. glutinis recovered from blood specimens (one obtained via peripheral veins and one via the catheter) before administration of fluconazole and one recovered from the removed catheter 17 days after initiation of fluconazole therapy exhibited high-level resistance to fluconazole (MICs, >256 microg/ml). These three isolates were found to belong to a single clone on the basis of identical antibiotypes determined by the E test (PDM Epsilometer; AB Biodisk, Solna, sweden) and biotypes determined by API ID32 C (bioMerieux, Marcy I'Etoile, france) and their identical random amplified polymorphic dna patterns.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
10/37. Voriconazole in the treatment of invasive mold infections in transplant recipients.mortality due to invasive mold infections in solid organ transplant recipients is very high despite therapy with amphotericin b, including lipid formulations. Voriconazole is a triazole with a good activity against molds, including Aspergillus spp. and scedosporium spp. Experience with voriconazole is limited, but preliminary results in patients with these infections are promising. Reported here is the experience with voriconazole administered on a compassionate-use basis to five patients with invasive mold infections: four solid organ recipients and one patient with an autoimmune disorder. Four patients had invasive aspergillus fumigatus infection (3 lung infections, 1 abdominal infection) and one had invasive ocular scedosporium apiospermum infection. The MIC of voriconazole was < or =1 microg/ml for all isolates (NCCLS performance standards for microdilution assay, proposed standard M38-P). Voriconazole was administered as primary therapy in a patient with scedosporium infection and, in patients with Aspergillus infections, after persistence of positive culture despite a cumulative dose of 3 g of a lipid formulation of amphotericin b. Voriconazole was administered for a median time of 80 days (range, 60-90 days). No visual disturbances were observed, but one patient presented a moderate increase in liver enzymes. An increase in the levels of immunosuppressive drugs (tacrolimus or cyclosporine) was detected in all patients during coadministration with voriconazole. A clinical response was observed in all patients (complete response, n=3; partial response, n=2), and a microbiological response was observed in all but one patient. Furthermore, a good relationship between the MIC of voriconazole and outcome was observed. Voriconazole is an effective and safe therapy for treatment of invasive mold infections in solid organ recipients. To avoid toxicity with this drug, however, the dosing of immunosuppressive drugs must be reduced.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = administration (Clic here for more details about this article) |
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