Successful Treatment of Disseminated Central Nervous Aspergillosis in a Patient with Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia

Abstract

Invasive opportunistic mycoses are common complications in patients suffering from hematological disorders. Brain abscesses in the immunocompromised host are known to be most frequently caused by fungi of the Aspergillus species and are often associated with concomitant pulmonary disease. As the penetration of the currently available antifungal agents into the brain tissue is limited, only very few patients have been described to survive this life-threatening condition. We report the case of a 62 year old female patient who presented with multiple aspergillus brain abscesses during prolonged neutropenia following induction chemotherapy for acute myeloblastic leukemia and was successfully treated with high dose (8 mg/kg/day) liposomal amphotericin B.

Key Words:

• Aspergillus
• brain abscess
• leukemia
• liposomal amphotericin B
• neutropenia
• immuno-suppression