Paediatric mucormycosis: tailoring surgical strategies to compliment antifungal chemotherapy. Different strokes for different folks.

Children manifesting soft-tissue fungal infections are uncommonly seen, more so the subgroup of invasive soft-tissue mucormycosis. Invasive fungal infections in various organs respond differently and are often complicated by an immune-compromised host. Repeated and aggressive clearance of disease till an infection-clear margin is obtained is the mainstay of surgical therapy. This is coupled with appropriate antifungal therapy and the management of any underlying medical conditions. From our experience, we propose a surgical algorithm for therapy of soft-tissue mucormycosis in children.

Disseminated protothecosis.

Here is presented, a rare case of disseminated protothecosis in a 10-year-old boy with combined immunodeficiency, hitherto unreported from India. Even though it is difficult to diagnose clinically, observation of the sporangiospores within the sporangium in culture gives the accurate laboratory identification of Prototheca spp. In this patient, failure to eradicate the infection with amphotericin B and recurrence with olecranon bursitis along with skin lesions and splenomegaly was observed. Disseminated protothecosis in a child with combined immunodeficiency and failure to eradicate the infection with amphotericin B is reported.

Cranial melioidosis presenting as a mass lesion or osteomyelitis.

OBJECT: Melioidosis is caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei and causes multiple abscesses in different organs of the body. Cranial melioidosis, although uncommon, is sometimes confused with tuberculosis and is therefore under-recognized. The authors report on 6 cases of cranial infections caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, presenting as mass lesions or cranial osteomyelitis, and review the literature. METHODS: The authors performed a retrospective review of the records of patients with cranial melioidosis treated at their institution between 1998 and 2005 to determine the presentation, management, and outcome of patients with this infection. RESULTS: Of the 6 patients diagnosed with cranial melioidosis during this period, 4 had brain abscesses and 2 had cranial osteomyelitis. All patients were treated surgically, and a diagnosis was made on the basis of histopathological studies. All patients were started on antibiotic therapy following surgery and this was continued for 6 months. One patient died soon after stereotactic aspiration of a brain abscess, and the other 5 patients had good outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Cranial melioidosis is probably more prevalent than has been previously reported. A high index of suspicion, early diagnosis, initiation of appropriate antibiotic therapy and treatment for an adequate period are essential for assuring good outcome in patients with cranial melioidosis. The authors recommend surgery followed by intravenous ceftazidime treatment for 6 weeks and oral cotrimoxazole for 6 months thereafter in patients with cranial melioidosis.

Cervicofacial nocardiosis in an immunocompetent child.

UNLABELLED: Nocardiosis occurs primarily as an opportunistic infection in an immunocompromised host. The infection may on rare occasion occur in a normal host confounding the diagnosis. It is also notably an uncommon infection in children. We report a 1-y-old girl with cervicofacial nocardial infection who presented with acute suppurative otitis media and lymphadenitis. This child did not have any predisposing risk factors for this infection and responded well to treatment with co-trimoxazole and chloramphenicol. She is doing well on follow-up. CONCLUSION: Nocardiosis in an immunocompetent small child is reported.