Search

A case of disseminated Scedosporium inflatum infection occurring in a neutropenic patient with acute myeloblastic leukemia is reported. Scedosporium inflatum was isolated from skin lesions, blood, urine and vitreous cultures. Amphotericin B treatment was ineffective in avoiding hematogenous spread. At autopsy, hyphae and ovoid conidia with truncate bases consistent with the morphology of Scedosporium inflatum were found in the lungs, kidneys, myocardium, liver, thyroid, spleen, lymph nodes, brain and the left eye. This is the first report of disseminated Scedosporium inflatum infection and the first time this organism has been isolated from a patient in Europe.

The first case of Thermomyces lanuginosus endocarditis occurring on a porcine heterograft prosthesis, secondary to a Staphylococcus aureus infection of the aortic valve, is reported. The diagnosis was made post-mortem by direct examination of the prosthesis and culture of surgical samples on Sabouraud's agar. Identification was based on the presence of warty, dark brown aleurioconidia. The route of contamination could not be established but the most likely cause was the air of the operating room or the insertion of a contaminated graft.