Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis with brain dissemination in an immunocompetent host

Abstract

Invasive aspergillosis is an uncommon infection, which is mainly seen among immunocompromised patients. In recent years, cases of aspergillosis involving immunocompetent hosts are increasingly being reported. Herein, we report the case of a 27-year-old man with fever, productive cough, shortness of breath, and left hemiparesis. He had suffered trauma to his head 25 days prior. Imaging of the chest showed bilateral cavitary lesions in the lungs, and neuroimaging revealed a space-occupying lesion in the right frontoparietal cerebrum. He was suspected of having an abscess or metastasis. He died on day 3 of hospitalization, and an autopsy was performed. The autopsy revealed the cause of death to be invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, with brain dissemination. Invasive aspergillosis is uncommon in apparently immunocompetent individuals, and we discuss the autopsy findings in detail.

Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis After Sars-CoV-2 Infection as Limitation of Contemporary Transplantology: A Case Report

“…At the other end of the spectrum, A. fumigatus causes tissue factor expression, which has a prothrombotic effect. Our patient did not show radiological signs of brain aspergillosis; however, in the literature, a case was reported of IPA with brain dissemination [20] .…”

Transcriptomics-based investigation of molecular mechanisms underlying synergistic antimicrobial effects of AgNPs and Domiphen on the human fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus

“…we chose nerve cells (HT22) instead of lung cells to perform cytotoxicity test for the following reasons: Firstly, considering that metal ions such as Ag + are more likely to cause neurotoxicity ( Amadi et al, 2019 ), we are more concerned about the effect of AgNPs on the survival rate of nerve cells; Secondly, nerve cells are more fragile than lung cells, so a drug with low cytotoxicity for nerve cells is very likely to have low cytotoxicity for lung cells as well; Thirdly, although the primary sites of A. fumigatus infection are the lungs and paranasal sinuses, brain infection arises from direct invasion from the paranasal sinuses or by hematogenous spread ( Kumar et al, 2021 ). There is also a case reporting invasive aspergillosis involving the lungs and brain in an immunocompetent person ( Kumar et al, 2021 ). Due to the single and combined MICs of the two drugs were determined, we chose the corresponding MIC value of the two drugs as test condition.…”

Aspergillus and Aspergillosis in People with Chronic Diseases

“…The risk of stroke is increased by invasive aspergillosis, which can cause brain blood vessel inflammation and damage. Additionally, aspergillosis-related blood clots have been connected to a higher risk of stroke [70]. More research is required to completely understand the relationship between aspergillosis and stroke.…”