Chronic sinusitis due to filamentous fungi PDF Print
CRISTINA ŢENEA*, IOANA BĂDICUŢ

(1) Universitatea “Petre Andrei” Iaşi, Facultatea de Medicină Dentară
(2) UŞAMV „Ion Ionescu de la Brad” Iaşi, Facultatea de Medicină Veterinară, (3) Universitatea „Al. I. Cuza” Iaşi, Facultatea de Biologie
Received: 25.02.2009 / Accepted: 02.04.2009

We present the case of a 47-year-old patient diagnosed with pansinusitis since the age of 20. During these years the patient has undergone antibiotic therapeutically treatment, often times with invasive surgical procedures. She was first diagnosed with fusariosis in December 2006, after the isolation of a Fusarium strain in the laboratory of "Matei Bals" Institute. The patient received 6 months of treatment with voriconazole resulting in a slight improvement of the symptoms. But in October 2007, the sinus infection symptoms came back. Microscopical examinations of the collected sample and primary cultures performed on sinus secretion revealed the presence of Fusarium spp and Aspergillus flavus. Both strains exhibited in vitro sensitivity to voriconazole and the evolution of the patient under the treatment with this antifungal agent was favorable. In conclusion, all cases of persistent sinusal infection that cannot be eradicated with antibiotics must be suspected to have a fungal etiology and treated accordingly.
Keywords:  chronic sinusitis, fungal infection, fusariosis, aspergillosis, opportunistic fungi
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