Invasive fungal infection caused by Magnusiomyces capitatus in a pediatric patient with Burkitt lymphoma: Case report and review of literature

Introduction

invasive fungal infection is a serious problem in immunosuppressed patients, particularly those with hematological or oncological diseases. Recently, more cases of emerging pathogens, such as Magnusiomyces capitatus, have been reported.

Clinical case

a 4-year-old male diagnosed with stage IV sphenoidal Burkitt lymphoma, undergoing immunosuppressive treatment and with severe neutropenia, developed sepsis of abdominal origin, requiring admission to the Intensive Care Unit. He received empirical antibiotic and antifungal therapy, with isolation of M. capitatus in blood cultures and peritoneal fluid. Despite adjusting antifungal therapy, the patient died 15 days after due to the progression of the invasive fungal infection.

Discussion

M. capitatus infections are reported more frequently in immunocompromised patients. A review of pediatric cases published in the literature identified a total of 16 cases (8 males and 8 females, median age 6 years). Most cases had an underlying hemato-oncological disease and were in an immunosuppressed state. In contradistinction to what is observed in adults, only three cases (18.8 %) had received antifungal prophylaxis. M. capitatus is a dimorphic yeast that is intrinsically resistant to echinocandins and has a significant mortality rate, both in studied series and in ours (50 %).

Conclusions

a rapid and accurate diagnosis of M. capitatus infection is essential to control invasive fungal infection, which could improve patient survival.