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The air crescent sign of invasive pulmonary mucormycosis in acute leukemia
Author(s) -
Funada Hisashi,
Misawa Toshihiro,
Nakao Shinji,
Saga Tsutomu,
Hattori KenIchi
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19840615)53:12<2721::aid-cncr2820531228>3.0.co;2-y
Subject(s) - medicine , chest radiograph , pulmonary infarction , mucormycosis , amphotericin b , radiology , lung , leukemia , surgery , radiography , dermatology , antifungal
An unusual radiographic sign of crescentic cavitation appeared in a case of invasive pulmonary mucormycosis complicating the treatment of a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia and having a normal admission chest radiograph. The first manifestation was a large, wedge‐shaped pleural‐based consolidation, which evolved about 10 days later into a fungus ball‐like lesion, usually known as the air crescent sign. Amphotericin B and 5‐fluorocytosine, which were initiated immediately after appearance of the sign, proved to be effective, probably in association with hematologic improvement. Transbronchial lung biopsy was not only helpful in establishing a definitive diagnosis, but also suggested that an intracavitary mass could have resulted from pulmonary infarction. This experience thus showed that the sign may appear in greater frequency in mucormycosis as well as in aspergillosis, and may be useful as a clinical index for initiating antifungal therapy in immunocompromised patients.