This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mok, T. Articles by Wickham, N. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mok, T. Articles by Wickham, N. W.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Oct 1997, 2654-2656, Vol 35, No. 10
Copyright © 1997 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Fatal Penicillium citrinum pneumonia with pericarditis in a patient with acute leukemia

T Mok, AP Koehler, MY Yu, DH Ellis, PJ Johnson and NW Wickham
Department of Clinical Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories.

We report here a case of fatal Penicillium citrinum infection. The patient, who suffered from acute myeloid leukemia, developed signs and symptoms typical of fungal pneumonia and pericardial tamponade after undergoing standard induction chemotherapy. Despite attaining complete remission of her leukemia, the patient succumbed 8 weeks after presentation. At autopsy, multiple nodular cavitary pulmonary lesions with invasion by fungal hyphae were found. Pericardial and lung tissue obtained at autopsy grew P. citrinum, a fungus ubiquitous in the environment but seldom reported as a pathogen. The microbiological findings were consistent with the histopathological features and confirmed this as a case of true P. citrinum infection causing fatal pulmonary and pericardial complications in an immunocompromised host.