Hormographiella aspergillata: An emerging mould in acute leukaemia patients?

Abstract

We describe three invasive mould infections due to Hormographiella aspergillata occurring within 1year in patients undergoing treatment for acute leukaemia. All patients presented with pulmonary infiltrates; one patient additionally had cerebral and ocular involvement. Diagnostic procedures included bronchoalveolar lavage in all, and video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in two patients. Susceptibility testing was performed by E-test and detected low minimal inhibitory concentrations for voriconazole and amphotericin B. All patients received systemic antifungal therapy; however, all of them died. Despite this cluster of three cases of an unusual mould infection, no hospital source was detected. © 2010 The Authors. Journal Compilation © 2010 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.