title: Survival of a patient with pulmonary Cunninghamella bertholletiae infection without surgical intervention.
abstract: Mucormycosis is an uncommon fungal infection, which generally develops in immunosuppressed hosts. In particular, pulmonary infection by Cunninghamella bertholletiae, a rare species of Mucor, is characterized by invasiveness and high mortality. Herein a case of pulmonary mucormycosis due to C. bertholletiae in a female patient with chronic renal insufficiency, secondary to microscopic polyarteritis, is reported. The patient survived after successful treatment with a cumulative dose of 1508 mg of amphotericin B, phased reduction of glucocorticoid therapy and chest tube drainage of a pneumothorax, without the necessity for surgical intervention. This case demonstrates that conservative therapy may be effective in patients for whom surgical intervention is not an option.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Saitama Medical University, Saitama, Japan. nkoyama@saitama-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.forename: Koichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015505:Chest Tubes; D020093:Cunninghamella; D004322:Drainage; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008172:Lung Diseases, Fungal / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009091:Mucormycosis / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D005938:Glucocorticoids