Survival of a patient with pulmonary Cunninghamella bertholletiae infection without surgical intervention

Respirology. 2008 Mar;13(2):309-11. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1843.2008.01234.x.

Abstract

Mucormycosis is an uncommon fungal infection, which generally develops in immunosuppressed hosts. In particular, pulmonary infection by Cunninghamella bertholletiae, a rare species of Mucor, is characterized by invasiveness and high mortality. Herein a case of pulmonary mucormycosis due to C. bertholletiae in a female patient with chronic renal insufficiency, secondary to microscopic polyarteritis, is reported. The patient survived after successful treatment with a cumulative dose of 1508 mg of amphotericin B, phased reduction of glucocorticoid therapy and chest tube drainage of a pneumothorax, without the necessity for surgical intervention. This case demonstrates that conservative therapy may be effective in patients for whom surgical intervention is not an option.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Antifungal Agents / therapeutic use
  • Chest Tubes
  • Cunninghamella*
  • Drainage
  • Female
  • Glucocorticoids / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Lung Diseases, Fungal / therapy*
  • Middle Aged
  • Mucormycosis / therapy*

Substances

  • Antifungal Agents
  • Glucocorticoids