title: Invasive aspergillosis with polyarthritis.
abstract: We report a case of septic arthritis of multiple joints in an 18-year-old male caused by Aspergillus fumigatus. His initial presentation was of low-grade fever followed by involvement of both knee and ankle joints. Later, there was also involvement of metacarpophalangeal joints. Diagnosis was based on biopsy and culture of the skin and joint lesions. The symptoms resolved readily under administration of itraconazole. We recommend that clinicians should be alerted of potential fungal etiology in cases of fever and chronic arthritis, which is unresponsive to conventional medical therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. sabeenmekan@hotmail.com
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Mekan
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Saeed
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Khan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000843:Ankle Joint; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001168:Arthritis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D001170:Arthritis, Infectious / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology*; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001706:Biopsy; D005334:Fever; D006801:Humans; D017964:Itraconazole / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007719:Knee Joint; D008297:Male; D008662:Metacarpophalangeal Joint
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D017964:Itraconazole