PENICILLIUM BREVICOMPACTUM AS THE CAUSE OF A NECROTIC LUNG BALL IN ANALLOGENEIC BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT

The non-Candida, non-Aspergillus fungal infections are being reported with increasing frequency in BMT patients, One of these agents is Peni cillium which has rarely been implicated as a pathogen in these patien ts. Only a few cases of isolated fungemias have been reported to date. We present the first documented case of invasive lung infection due t o Penicillium brevicompactum in an allogeneic BMT recipient, As this c ase shows, the diagnosis of non-Candida, non-Aspergillus fungal infect ions may be incorrect if only histologic findings are available, mainl y because misdiagnosis with other more common fungus can occur, A posi tive culture is required in order to make an accurate diagnosis.