Disseminated aspergillosis complicating pregnancy

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Mycoses

Volume 45 Issue 9-10 Page 408 - November 2002

doi:10.1046/j.1439-0507.2002.00771.x

Letter to the Editor

Case Report. Disseminated aspergillosis complicating pregnancy

Fallbericht. Disseminierte Aspergillose als Komplikation der

Schwangerschaft

C. Klock, M. Cerski, A. Dargel and L. Z. Goldani

Summary.

We report a case of disseminated aspergillosis in a hitherto healthy

24-year-old woman during her 24th week of pregnancy. Relevant

findings at autopsy revealed innumerable septate, dichotomously

branched (45°) hyphae compatible with Aspergillus in lung and liver

tissues. Cerebral histology showed cerebral vessels occluded by

hyphae causing cerebral infarction. There was no evidence of

invasive aspergillosis in the placenta and fetal tissues.

Aspergillus sp. was confirmed by amplification of a specific 357-

base-pair amplicon from a paraffin block containing lung tissue.

This case illustrates a previously uncharacterized spectrum of

disseminated aspergillosis, indicating the need for a heightened

awareness that Aspergillus species are opportunistic agents for

invasive and disseminated infection in pregnancy.