1993 Volume 34 Issue 2 Pages 145-153
In this article, we report a case with acute leukemia complicated with Penicillium citrinum and an unidentified Penicillium sp. We also review the clinical analysis of penicilliosis reported in the world literature.
There have been 65 reported cases of penicilliosis, including three cases in Japan. The species isolated were 40 strains of P. marneffei, five strains of P. crustaceum, three strains of P. citrinum, and two strains of P. chrysogenum. The reported cases included 11 from China, 11 from Thailand, 11 from the USA, 10 from Hong Kong, four from Nigeria, three from Japan, three from France and two from the United Kingdom. China, Thailand and Hong Kong are endemic areas which accounts for the larger number of cases reported from there. Three AIDS patients and one Hodgkins' disease patient had travelled in Southeast Asia.
The underlying or concomitant diseases were AIDS and other immunodeficient diseases including anemia, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphoproliferative disorder, solid cancer or collagen disease.
Twenty-nine of the 65 cases with penicilliosis died of the disease, while 27 cases recovered. The penicilliosis was treated mainly with amphotericin B and flucytosine or azole derivatives.
Members of the genus Penicillium are abundant in the environment. It must be noted that penicilliosis is an important disease in immunocompromised patients.
