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Abstract

BACKGROUND

Acrophialophora fusispora is an emerging opportunistic fungus rarely implicated in human infections. Here, we report the first case of pulmonary infection due to A. fusispora from India.

CASE DESCRIPTION

A 59-year-old male, farmer by occupation was admitted to AIIMS, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, with complaints of cough and expectoration of yellowish sputum for last one month and gradually progressive shortness of breath for 20 days. He had past history of pulmonary tuberculosis and was a known case of COPD for last five years. He was diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) for which he had been receiving treatment with azathioprine and prednisolone for 3 months. CECT of chest revealed cystic bronchiectatic changes with findings suggestive of aspergilloma. Serum Aspergillus fumigatus specific IgG levels were elevated suggestive of chronic pulmonary aspergillosis (CPA). He was tested positive for influenza A (H1N1) by RT-PCR and received treatment with oral oseltamivir but to no clinical benefit. Culture of sputum on two subsequent occasions showed growth of a fungus which was identified as Acrophialophora fusispora based on characteristic microscopic morphology and rDNA ITS sequencing. Treatment with oral itraconazole showed marked symptomatic improvement. He was discharged from the hospital with oral itraconazole to be continued for 6 months. Follow-up visit after 3 months showed significant clinical and radiological improvement.

CONCLUSION

Molecular sequencing can reliably identify which is crucial for initiating specific antifungal therapy. Further studies are encouraged to determine the prevalence of such infections so as to plan optimal management and improve patient outcomes.

  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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/content/journal/acmi/10.1099/acmi.fis2019.po0083
2020-02-28
2024-03-28
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