[Successful treatment of neuroaspergillosis in a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: role of surgery, systemic antifungal therapy and intracavitary therapy]. / Akut lenfoblastik lösemili bir olguda gelisen nöroaspergillozun basarili tedavisi: cerrahi, sistemik antifungal tedavi ve intrakaviter tedavinin rolleri.

Cerebral aspergillosis is a rare condition that generally exhibits a poor response to conventional antifungal drugs. We report here a case of cerebral aspergillosis in a 34-years-old man with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia who was successfully treated with a combination of aggressive neurosurgery, intracavitary instillation of amphotericin B and voriconazole. We aimed to emphazise the roles of surgery, intracavitary therapy and antifungal therapy in the management of neuroaspergillosis. Under amphotericin-B therapy, the patient developed dysarthria and paralysis of the right side of his body. Brain magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a lesion in the left parieto-occipital region, measuring 7 cm in the greatest dimension. Diagnostic surgery was interrupted due to abundant bleeding. The culture of the aspirate from the lesion yielded Aspergillus flavus. The therapy was switched to voriconazole and caspofungin combination. Due to disease progression during combination therapy, the patient had a second surgical resection resulting in a 75% reduction in lesion size. Following surgical intervention, intracavitary instillation of amphotericin B (0.3 mg/day for 15 days) was performed alongside with combination therapy (voriconazole and caspofungin). Caspofungin was stopped after 42 days, whereas the patient was continued on voriconazole for a total of 100 days. At this point, his brain lesion resolved almost completely. However, leukemia relapsed. The patient died during his treatment course because of neutropenic typhilitis occurring in the aplastic phase. It is stated that in patients with neuroaspergillosis radical neurosurgery leads to better outcomes if performed at an earlier stage. Antifungal treatment of cerebral aspergillosis requires that the drug must cross the blood brain barrier. Voriconazole has the ability to cross the blood brain barrier. The therapy should be prolonged beyond the resolution of all lesions and until reversal of the underlying predisposition. We conclude that the use of neurosurgery and voriconazole together appears to be a reliable and effective treatment modality in patients with cerebral aspergillosis.

Hydatid disease in acute leukemia: effect of anticancer treatment on echinococcosis.

Echinococcosis, also known as hydatid disease or hydatidosis, is a zoonotic illness caused by the larval form of Echinococcus spp. It is highly prevalent in areas where the parasite is endemic such as the Mediterranean region. However, occurrence of echinococcosis and cancer together is rare. We treated and followed approximately 1200 patients with different hematologic neoplastic diseases between 1985 and 2003, and only one of these individuals had concomitant acute leukemia and liver hydatidosis. This report describes the case of a 19-year-old man who had both primary refractoriness of acute leukemia (AML-M4) and liver hydatidosis. Management is discussed. The patient had cystic echinococcosis (CE) of the liver that was classified as CE1 according to the system established by the World Health Organization's Informal Working Group on Echinococcosis. The patient underwent 3 months of treatment with agents that targeted the leukemia (daunorubicin, idarubicin, cytarabine, fludarabine) and its complications (amphotericin B, amphotericin B lipid complex, liposomal amphotericin B). Throughout this period, the size and the contents of the cyst did not change, Echinococcus titers remained unchanged, and the cyst classification remained CE1.