Purulent Pericarditis in Aspergillosis

Abstract

Although it is an uncommon disease in man, aspergillosis is being recognized with increasing frequency. The infection usually is caused by Aspergillus fumigatus, and typically is confined to the bronchopulmonary system, where it appears as an abscess, granuloma, mycetoma, pneumonitis, Löffler's syndrome (1), or a condition resembling "farmer's lung" (2). On rare occasions, the infection becomes invasive and spreads hematogenously throughout the body. This report presents the clinical and pathological data of a case of fatal disseminated aspergillosis. The infection occurred in a patient with lymphosarcoma who developed an acute monocytic leukemia, and it was associated with the use of