Introduction of a Comprehensive Diagnostic and Interdisciplinary Management Approach in Haematological Patients with Mucormycosis: A Pre and Post-Intervention Analysis.

Mucormycosis is a life threatening infection in patients with haematological disease. We introduced a Mucorales-PCR and an aggressive, multidisciplinary management approach for mucormycosis during 2016-2017 and evaluated patient outcomes in 13 patients diagnosed and treated in 2012-2019. Management principle: repeated surgical debridement until biopsies from the resection margins were clean as defined by negative Blankophor microscopy, Mucorales-PCR (both reported within 24 h), and cultures. Cultured isolates underwent EUCAST E.Def 9.3.1 susceptibility testing. Antifungal therapy (AFT) (mono/combination) combined with topical AFT (when possible) was given according to the minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), severity of the infection, and for azoles, specifically, it was guided by therapeutic drug monitoring. The outcome was evaluated by case record review. All patients underwent surgery guided by diagnostic biopsies from tissue and resection margins (195 samples in total). Comparing 2012-2015 and 2016-2019, the median number of patients of surgical debridements was 3 and 2.5 and of diagnostic samples: microscopy/culture/PCR was 3/3/6 and 10.5/10/10.5, respectively. The sensitivity of microscopy (76%) and Mucorales-PCR (70%) were similar and microscopy was superior to that of culture (53%; p = 0.039). Initial systemic AFT was liposomal amphotericin B (n = 12) or posaconazole (n = 1) given as monotherapy (n = 4) or in combination with isavuconazole/posaconazole (n = 3/6) and terbinafine (n = 3). Nine patients received topical amphotericin B. All received isavuconazole or posaconazole consolidation therapy (n = 13). Mucormycosis related six month mortality was 3/5 in 2012-2015 and 0/7 patients in 2016-2019 (one patient was lost for follow-up). Implementation of combination therapy (systemic+topical AFT/combination systemic AFT) and aggressive surgical debridement guided by optimised diagnostic tests may improve the outcome of mucormycosis in haematologic patients.

[Primary septic arthritis is a rare, atypical manifestation of invasive meningococcal disease].

We present a case report of a 50-year-old man diagnosed with a primary septic arthritis with invasive Neisseria meningitidis serogroup W (MenW) clonal complex 11 identified with culture in blood and synovial fluid. The patient recovered from rapidly instituted relevant antibiotics and synovectomy, but there may be a risk of fatal delayed diagnosis and treatment by an atypical manifestation of invasive meningococcal disease. Invasive MenW disease has been increasing in recent years and has been described with atypical presentations.

Recurrent prosthetic valve endocarditis caused by Aspergillus delacroxii (formerly Aspergillus nidulans var. echinulatus).

We report Aspergillus delacroxii (formerly Aspergillus nidulans var. echinulatus) causing recurrent prosthetic valve endocarditis. The fungus was the sole agent detected during replacement of a mechanical aortic valve conduit due to abscess formation. Despite extensive surgery and anti-fungal treatment, the patient had a cerebral hemorrhage 4 months post-surgery prompting a diagnosis of recurrent prosthetic valve endocarditis and fungemia.

Mycotic aneurysm caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei in a previously healthy returning traveller.

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a common cause of serious, difficult to treat infections in South-East Asia and Northern Australia, but is a rare imported pathogen in the USA and Europe. We report a case of a patient with a mycotic aneurysm caused by B. pseudomallei in a previously healthy returning traveller. The patient presented with 4 weeks of abdominal pain and intermittent fever after a brief vacation in Thailand. The aneurysm was excised and replaced by an autologous deep vein graft, and the patient was treated for 6 months with antibiotics adjusted according to postoperative renal impairment. Twenty-four months after surgery the patient is well and without relapse.

Candidaemia and risk of intraocular infection: a Danish hospital-based cohort study.

Intraocular infection is a feared complication in patients with candidaemia. We therefore assessed the current risk and prognosis in Danish candidaemia patients. Candidaemia patients at a Danish university hospital were identified prospectively during a 10-y period, 1995-2004, and ophthalmologic records were retrieved retrospectively. Among 203 incident cases of candidaemia, 86 (42%) were examined at least once by an ophthalmologist. Nine patients had retinitis and 1 patient had endophthalmitis; eye involvement was bilateral in 8 and monocular in 2 patients. Lesions were generally mild and progression was observed in only 1 patient. Surgical treatment was not indicated and the median duration of systemic antifungal therapy was 19 d. The median survival time was 77 d for candidaemia patients with eye involvement, 480 d in candidaemia patients without such an involvement, and only 9 d in candidaemia patients without an ophthalmologic examination. In conclusion, the cumulative rate of intraocular infection was 11.6%, but we suspect an underestimation due to the circumstances of the eye examinations and the rapid death of many patients. We continue to recommend eye examinations for candidaemia patients, but timing seems not to be critical if overt signs of infection are absent, thereby facilitating the use of improved diagnostic methods.

Detection of candidaemia in high risk patients: can yield of blood cultures be improved by blind subculture?

Rapid detection of candidaemia is crucial for timely antifungal chemotherapy. However, the sensitivity of automated blood culture (BC) systems has been questioned. Blind subculture might increase detection rate and possibly also reduce time to detection of candidaemia. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of blind subcultures in patients deemed at high risk of candidaemia. BCs were processed by the BacT/Alert BC system, and during a 5-y period (1998-2003) subculture on the third d of incubation was performed for patients selected by clinical and microbiological assessment. A total of 79,165 BCs were drawn during the study period. 2154 BCs from 285 patients were selected for subculture. 103 (4.8%) BCs from 52 patients were yeast positive; 71 were detected positive prior to the planned subculture, 25 were positive on subculture, and 7 were negative on subculture, but became positive during further incubation. The 25 BCs positive on subculture originated from 14 patients, 11 of whom had already been diagnosed with candidaemia during the previous 14 d. Thus, a primary diagnosis of candidaemia was obtained by subculture in only 3 (1.1%) of the 285 patients selected. In conclusion, in our clinical setting blind subculture did not materially increase the detection of candidaemia, but helped to document persistent infection in a subset of cases.