Fluconazole in the treatment of pulmonary zygomycosis.
Pulmonary zygomycosis is an aggressive, often terminal infection that may be found in patients who are immunocompromised as a result of cytotoxic chemotherapy. Conventional treatment is by surgical debridement augmented with high-dose intravenous amphotericin B, but even with such treatment the course is usually fulminant with a high mortality rate. Recent work has suggested that the new antifungal triazole, fluconazole, may be of benefit in treating zygomycete infection. The case of a 15-year-old boy who developed pulmonary zygomycosis while on chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and who survived for 11 months with oral fluconazole therapy alone, is supportive of this proposal.
Koszyca
B
B
Department of Histopathology, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, Australia.
Ellis
D
D
Toogood
I
I
Byard
R W
RW
D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D015725:Fluconazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008172:Lung Diseases, Fungal / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D009091:Mucormycosis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy
D000935:Antifungal Agents; D015725:Fluconazole