Trichosporon species infection in bone marrow transplanted patients

Trichosporon species are emerging as opportunistic agents that cause system ic diseases in immunocompromised patients. Patients undergoing bone marrow transplant are submitted to intense and prolonged periods of neutropenia an d consequently to several risk factors to fungal infections as the use of b road spectrum antibiotics and invsive devices. Two cases of fungal infecito ns caused by Trichosporon asahii var, asahii and T. inkin in patients with bone marrow transplant are described T. asahii var, asahii was responsible for fungemia and the identification of this microorganism was later perform ed. T. inkin caused vascular accesses infection and was recovered from an i mplanted Hickman-Broviac catheter. Both patients were under oral fluconazol e prophylaxis. The patient with systemic infection died despite the therapy with amphotericin B and the patient with catheter-related infection recove red from the fungal infection after catheter removal. Difficulties in the i dentification of this microorganism lead to delays in treatment and post-mo rtem diagnosis. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.