Fungal Rhinosinusitis: Report of uncommon Aspergillus species as etiological agents

Abstract

International Journal of Case Reports and Images (IJCRI) is an international, peer reviewed, monthly, open access, online journal, publishing high-quality, articles in all areas of basic medical sciences and clinical specialties.Aim of IJCRI is to encourage the publication of new information by providing a platform for reporting of unique, unusual and rare cases which enhance understanding of disease process, its diagnosis, management and clinico-pathologic correlations. We hereby report three cases of fungal sinusitis caused by uncommon Aspergillus such as A. versicolor and A. sydowii. Case 1 was a 40-year-old female came with complaints of nasal block and nasal discharge for past one and a half years with history of previous nasal surgery. Her computed tomography (CT) scan of paranasal sinus (PNS) showed bilateral ethmoidal sinusitis. Case 2 was a 43-year-old male known asthmatic presented with complaints of nasal block for last five years, was diagnosed to have bilateral sinonasal polyposis by anterior rhinoscopy. Case 3 was a 17-year-old female known asthmatic presented with headache, nasal discharge and frequent sneezing for last six months. Her CT PNS showed left side deviated nasal septum with left side pan sinusitis along with right frontal sinusitis. All the three patients underwent functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). The material was sent to the microbiology laboratory for fungal culture and potassium hydroxide mount. Speciation by slide culture was not conclusive. Hence, molecular methods were opted for speciation. Conclusion: Reporting of these cases will ensure awareness among the microbiologists about the not so common Aspergilli as a cause of fungal sinusitis. The need of molecular methods for speciation has also been emphasized here as it is difficult to speciate these Aspergilli using routine conventional methods. IJCRI publishes

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