Central nervous system paracoccidioidomycosis: case report and review

Paracoccidioidomycosis is a systemic infection caused by a dimorphic fungus (Paracoccidioides brasiliensis). The most common lesions frequently occur in the bucopharinx mucosa. Other lesions occur in the adrenal glands, liver, bone, gastrointestinal tract, lungs and nervous system. We report here a case of neuroparacoccidioidomycosis. The patient was a 49 year-old male, who consulted due to neurological symptoms (cephalalgia, speech difficulty and one tonic clonic seizure with urinary incontinence) of eight months duration. Upon physical examination it was observed an emaciated male with nail clubbing, a skin ulcer with raised edges and a crusted bottom of 4 × 2 cm in diameter located in the right supraclavicular region and an ulcerated lesion in the left tonsil with edema. The rest of the physical examination reveled a discrete left side hemiparesis and pulmonary rales in the left hemitorax. The fungus was identified through direct examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The histopathology of suprarenal, lungs, brain and skin showed multiple paracoccidioidal granulomas. To the best of our knowledge, this is the third case reported in the literature. We review the literature on the pathogenesis and prevalence of neuroparacoccidioidomycosis

Mucormicosis. Reporte de tres casos / Mucormycosis. Report of 3 cases

Mucormycosis is an acute and often fatal infection caused by a fungus of the Mucorales order of the Zygomycetes class. There are various clinical types, usually associated with an underlying disorder. The rhinocerebral mucormycosis is usually seen in diabetics, especially in ketoacidosis, but may also appear in healthy people. We report three cases of mucormycosis diagnosed since april 1987 through january 2001 at the Dr. Domingo Luciani Hospital, Caracas, Venezuela. Two of them had diabetes and one was apparently healthy. The most common clinical presentation of mucormycosis was the rhinocerebral infection, seen in the two diabetic patients, both of them had cavernous sinus thrombosis one with involvement of the carotid artery. The other patient with sinus involvement had no predisposing factors. All patients were treated with amphotericin B and two of them had surgical debridement of involved tissue. We emphasize the importance of an early clinical diagnosis and treatment with surgical debridement of infected tissue combined with amphotericin B.