Polymerase chain reaction aids in the diagnosis of an unusual case of Aspergillus niger endocarditis in a patient with acute myeloid leukaemia
Author:
McCracken D, Barnes R, Poynton C, White PL, Işik N, Cook D
Date: 28 April 2011
Abstract:
Endocarditis secondary to Aspergillus niger has not been described in a leukaemic patient. We describe a case of A. niger endocarditis in a patient with acute myeloid leukaemia and refractory fever. The microbiological cause of his endocarditis was initially misdiagnosed because he fulfilled the Duke criteria for enterococcal endocarditis. A polymerase chain reaction test utilizing pan-fungal primers detected a product from an Aspergillus sp. The DNA was subsequently sequenced and was found to have 100% homology with A. niger. A postmortem revealed fungal endocarditis secondary to disseminated aspergillosis, without evidence of bacterial endocarditis. The patient was found to have a lung aspergilloma that was possibly occupationally acquired, and may have been long standing.
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