Cytomegalovirus-associated supraglottic mass in a patient on immunosuppressive therapy

Abstract

A 33-year-old woman on chronic immunosuppressive treatment for rheumatoid arthritis with a history of inhaled methamphetamine use presented with respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation for a prolonged period. After being given plasma exchange, pulses of methylprednisolone and a dose of cyclosporine for suspected ANCA (anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic autoantibodies) vasculitis, she developed an obstructive supraglottic laryngeal mass that required a tracheostomy to bypass. Biopsy findings revealed the mass to be an inflammatory pseudomass secondary to cytomegalovirus (CMV). The mass resolved after several weeks of intravenous ganciclovir therapy. This is an extremely unusual presentation of localised CMV disease, with only two or three similar cases having been reported worldwide.