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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2000, p. 2010-2014, Vol. 38, No. 5
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Bilateral Pulmonary Aspergilloma Caused by an Atypical Isolate of Aspergillus terreus

Z. U. Khan,1,* M. Kortom,2 R. Marouf,3 R. Chandy,1 M. G. Rinaldi,4,5 and D. A. Sutton4

Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University,1 and Departments of Medicine2 and Hematology,3 Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, Ministry of Public Health, Kuwait, and Fungus Testing Laboratory, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio,4 and Audie L. Murphy Division, South Texas Veterans Health Care System,5 San Antonio, Texas 78284

Received 24 September 1999/Returned for modification 26 November 1999/Accepted 13 February 2000

A case of bilateral pulmonary aspergilloma caused by an atypical isolate of Aspergillus terreus is described. The diagnosis was established by the presence of septate, dichotomously branched fungal elements in freshly collected bronchoalveolar lavage and sputum specimens and by repeated isolation of the fungus in culture. Specific precipitating antibodies against the A. terreus isolate were demonstrated in the patient's serum. The isolate was atypical as it failed to produce fruiting structures on routine mycological media, but it did so on extended incubation on potato flake agar and produced globose, relatively heavy-walled, hyaline accessory conidia (formerly termed aleurioconidia) on both vegetative and aerial mycelia. Also, it produced an intense yellow diffusing pigment in the medium. The report underscores the increasing importance of A. terreus in the etiology of pulmonary aspergillosis. It is suggested that A. terreus antigen be included in the battery of serodiagnostic reagents to facilitate the early diagnosis of infections caused by this species.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 24923, Kuwait 13110. Phone: (0965) 5312300. Fax: (0965) 5332719. E-mail: ziauddin{at}hsc.kuniv.edu.kw.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 2000, p. 2010-2014, Vol. 38, No. 5
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

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  • Espinel-Ingroff, A., Bartlett, M., Chaturvedi, V., Ghannoum, M., Hazen, K. C., Pfaller, M. A., Rinaldi, M., Walsh, T. J. (2001). Optimal Susceptibility Testing Conditions for Detection of Azole Resistance in Aspergillus spp.: NCCLS Collaborative Evaluation. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 45: 1828-1835 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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