A case of pulmonary co-infection with Aspergillus fumigatus and Mucorales in a patient with sarcoidosis

Abstract

A 54-year-old woman with fever and cough presented with left upper lobe consolidation and para-aortic and hilar lymphadenopathies and was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, and her condition improved spontaneously. Over the next 15 years, the patient experienced seven similar episodes and was treated with glucocorticoids for the first time in the eighth episode, but subsequently died of respiratory failure. The autopsy revealed diffuse alveolar damage and co-infection with Aspergillus fumigatus and Mucorales in the lungs and mediastinum. The clinical course and autopsy results suggest that glucocorticoids caused the growth of fungi already infected in the patient, and co-infection with the other.

Keywords

• Sarcoidosis
• Mucorales
• Aspergillus fumigatus
• Co-infection