Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Breakthrough Hormographiella aspergillata Infection in a Patient with Acute Myeloid Leukemia Receiving Posaconazole Prophylaxis: A Case Report and Review

  • Case Report
  • Published:
Mycopathologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Breakthrough invasive infections occur in immunosuppressed patients while they are receiving antifungal agents for both prophylaxis and therapy. Under such conditions, unusual fungal infections emerge. Hormographiella aspergillata is considered an uncommon human pathogen and causes devastating infections. Here, we present a case report of necrotizing pneumonia caused by H. aspergillata as a breakthrough infection in a neutropenic patient and review all previous cases of H. aspergillata infection reported in the literature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Cornely OA, Maertens J, Winston DJ, et al. Posaconazol vs fluconazole or itraconazole prophylaxis in patients with neutropenia. N Engl J Med. 2007;356(4):348–59.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Lekakis LJ, Lawson A, Prante J, et al. Fatal Rhizopus pneumonia in allogeneic stem cell transplant patients despite posaconazole prophylaxis: two cases and review of the literature. Biol Blood Marrow Transpl. 2009;15:991–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Cuervo G, García-Vidal C, Nucci M, et al. Breakthrough candidaemia in the era of broad-spectrum antifungal therapies. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2016;22(2):181–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Lamoth F, Chung SJ, Damonti L, Alexander BD. Changing epidemiology of invasive mold infections in patients receiving azole prophylaxis. Clin Infect Dis. 2017;54(11):1619–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. White TM, Bruns T, Lee S, Taylor J. Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA for phylogenetics. In: Innis MA, Gelfand DH, Sninsky JJ, White TJ, editors. PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications. San Diego: Academic Press; 1990. p. 315–321.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Rodríguez-Tudela JL, Arendrup MC, Cuenca-Estrella M, Donnelly JP, Lass-Flörl C. EUCAST breakpoints for antifungals. Drug News Perspect. 2010;23(2):93–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Brandt ME. Filamentous basidiomycetes in the clinical laboratory. Curr Fungal Infect Rep. 2013;7(3):219–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Speller DE, Maclver AG. Endocarditis caused by a Coprinus species: a fungus of the toadstool group. J Med Microbiol. 1971;4(3):370–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Bartz-Schimdt KU, Tintelnot K, Steffen M, Ozel M, Kirchhof B, Heimann K. Chronic basidiomycetous endophtalmitis after extracapsular cataract extraction and intraocular lens implantation. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 1996;234(9):591–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Verweij PE, van Kasteren M, van de Nes J, de Hoog GS, de Pauw BE, Meis JF. Fatal pulmonary infection caused by the basidiomycete Hormographiella aspergillata. J Clin Microbiol. 1997;35(10):2675–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Nenoff P, Friedrich T, Schwerke H, Mierzwa M, Horn LC, Haustein UF. Rare fatal simultaneous mould infection of the lung caused by Aspergillus flavus and the basidiomycete Coprinus sp. in a leukemic patient. J Med Vet Mycol. 1997;35(1):65–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Surmont I, Van Aelst F, Verbanck J, De Hoog GS. A pulmonary infection caused by Coprinus cinereus (Hormographiella aspergillata) diagnosed after a neutropenic episode. Med Mycol. 2002;40(2):217–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Lagrou K, Massonet C, Theunissen K, Meersseman W, Lontie M, Verbeken E, et al. Fatal pulmonary infection in a leukaemic patient caused by Hormographiella aspergillata. J Med Microbiol. 2005;54(7):685–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Greer EL, Kowaiski TJ, Cole ML, Miller DV, Baddour LM. Truffle´s revenge: a pig-eating fungus. Cardiovasc Pathol. 2008;17(5):342–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Abuali MM, Posada R, Del Toro G, Roman E, Ramani R, Chaturvedi S, et al. Rhizomucor variabilis var regularior and Hormographiella aspergillata infections in a leukemic bone marrow transplant recipient with refractory neutropenia. J Clin Microbiol. 2009;47(12):4176–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Conen A, Weisser M, Hohler D, Frei R, Stern M. Hormographiella aspergillata: an emerging mould in acute leukaemia patients? Clin Microbiol Infect. 2011;17(2):273–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Suarez F, Olivier G, Garcia-Hermoso D, Randriamalala E, Ghez D, Bruneau J, et al. Breakthrough Hormograhpiella aspergillata infections arising in neutropenic patients treated empirically with caspofungin. J Clin Microbiol. 2011;49(1):461–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Pang KA, Godet C, Fekkar A, Scholler J, Nivoix Y, Letscher-Bru V, et al. Breakthrough invasive mould infections in patients treated with caspofungin. J Infect. 2012;64(4):424–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Bojic M, Willinger B, Rath T, Tobudic S, Thalhammer F, Bôhm A, et al. Fatal skin and pulmonary infection caused by Hormographiella aspergillata in a leukaemic patient: case report and literature review. Mycoses. 2013;56(6):687–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Heiblig M, Bozzoli V, Saison J, et al. Lyon HEMINF Study group. Combined medico-surgical strategy for invasive sino-orbito-cerebral breakthrough fungal infection with Hormographiella aspergillata in an acute leukaemia patient. Mycoses. 2015;58(5):308–12.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Corzo-León DE, Satlin MJ, Soave R, Shore TB, Schuetz AN, Jacobs SE, et al. Epidemiology and outcomes of invasive fungal infections in allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients in the era of antifungal prophylaxis: a single-centre study with focus on emerging pathogens. Mycoses. 2015;58(6):325–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Nanno T, Nakane H, Okamura M, et al. Disseminated Hormographiella aspergillata infection with involvement of the lung, brain, and small intestine following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: case report and literature review. Transpl Infect Dis. 2016;18:611–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Godet C, Cateau E, Rammaert B, et al. Nebulized liposomal amphotericin B for treatment of pulmonary infection caused by Hormographiella aspergillata: case report and literature review. Mycopathologia. 2017;182(7–8):709–13.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Correa-Martinez C, Brentrup A, Hess K, Becker K, Groll AH, Schaumburg F. First description of a local Coprinopsis cinerea skin and soft tissue infection. New Microbes New Infect. 2017;21:102–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Jain N, Jinagal J, Kaur H, Ghosh A, Gupta S, Ram J, et al. Ocular infection caused by Hormographiella aspergillata: a case report and review of literature. J Mycol Med. 2019;29(1):71–4.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Chauhan A, Gruenber J, Arbefeville S, Mettler T, Brent CH, Ferrieri P. Disseminated Hormographiella aspergillata infection with lung and brain involvement after allogeneic hematopoietics stem-cell transplantation in a 54-year-old man. Lab Med. 2019;50(4):426–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Krishna G, Moton A, Ma L, Medlock MM, McLeod J. Pharmacokinetics and absorption of posaconazole oral suspension under various gastric conditions in healthy volunteers. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2009;53:958–86.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Guarascio AJ, Slain D. Review of the new delayed-release oral tablet and intravenous dosage forms of posaconazole. Pharmacotherapy. 2015;35(2):208–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Furuno JP, Tallman GB, Noble BN, et al. Clinical outcomes of oral suspension versus delayed-release tablet formulations of posaconazole for prophylaxis of invasive fungal infections. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2018;24(10):e00893-18. https://doi.org/10.1128/AAC.00893-18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Bouchara JP, Chaturvedi V. The curious case of ‘‘case report’’ of infections caused by human and animal fungal pathogens: an educational tool, an online archive, or a format in need of retooling. Mycopathologia. 2018;183(6):879–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the microbiology team at the Pablo Tobón Uribe Hospital.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ramírez-Sanchez Isabel Cristina.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors reported no conflict of interest. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest.

Ethical Approval

This report was approved by the ethics and research committee of the Institution. The authors confirm that this material is original and has not been published in whole or in part elsewhere; that the manuscript is not currently being considered for publication in another journal; and that all authors have been personally and actively involved in substantive work leading to the manuscript and will hold themselves jointly and individually responsible for its content. In addition, the authors confirm that they have completed the checklist for submission of a case report to Mycopathologia published by Bouchara et al. [30].

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Handling Editor: Vishnu Chaturvedi.

The authors participated in the case description, literature review and writing process and have completed the checklist for submission of case reports to Mycopathologia. This manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Isabel Cristina, RS., Diana, A. & Karen, A. Breakthrough Hormographiella aspergillata Infection in a Patient with Acute Myeloid Leukemia Receiving Posaconazole Prophylaxis: A Case Report and Review. Mycopathologia 185, 1069–1076 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-020-00488-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-020-00488-z

Keywords

Navigation