Successful voriconazole therapy of disseminated Fusarium verticillioides infection in an immunocompromised patient receiving chemotherapy

Abstract

Sir, Fusarium spp. are frequently involved in human cutaneous and ocular infection, but also in disseminated diseases. In immunologically compromised hosts, local infection may spread and cause invasive fusarial infection, which is characterized by persistent fever despite broad-spectrum antibacterials and is frequently associated with skin lesions of the limbs (60–80% of patients) and accompanied by myalgias with multiple organ involvement (lung, liver, spleen, kidney, heart and brain). The mortality rate of fusariosis in immunologically compromised hosts is 50–80%. 1