Fonsecaea associated cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in a post-COVID-19 patient: A first case report

Phaeohyphomycosis, previously known as chromoblastomycosis, is a chronic mycosis, usually affecting the skin. It is caused by dematiaceous fungi, which are a group of fungi that produce melanin in their cell walls. Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis occurs as a part of invasive presentation of the fungi, wh...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical Infection in Practice
Main Authors: Simin Laiq, Mubarak Al Yaqoobi, Maimuna Al Saadi, Semee Rizvi, Zahra Al Hajri, Saleh Al Azri, Khalsa Al Ramadhani, Qasim Al Hinai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022-01-01
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590170221000637
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Summary:Phaeohyphomycosis, previously known as chromoblastomycosis, is a chronic mycosis, usually affecting the skin. It is caused by dematiaceous fungi, which are a group of fungi that produce melanin in their cell walls. Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis occurs as a part of invasive presentation of the fungi, which usually affects immunocompromised patients, but may affect immunocompetent individuals as well. Cerebral infection in phaeohyphomycosis is associated with a poor prognosis regardless of the immune status of the patient. COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or medications used for its treatment may compromise the immune system, including in the post-COVID-19 period, resulting in invasive fungal infections, which have frequently been reported recently during the COVID-19 pandemic. We report a case of Fonsecaea associated cerebral phaeohyphomycosis in a recently diagnosed diabetic Omani lady, who presented to our hospital 6 weeks after recovery and discharge from hospitalization for moderate COVID-19 pneumonia.
ISSN:2590-1702