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Emergence of Scedosporium apiospermum in patients with cystic fibrosis

Yuriko Nagano, Millar B Cherie, Colin E Goldsmith, Elborn J Stuart, Jackie Rendall, John E Moore

Northern Ireland Public Health Laboratory, Department of Bacteriology, Belfast City Hospital, Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7AD, Northern Ireland, UK
Regional Adult Cystic Fibrosis Unit, Belfast City Hospital, Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7AB, Northern Ireland, UK
Northern Ireland Public Health Laboratory, Department of Bacteriology, Belfast City Hospital, Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7AD, Northern Ireland, UK

Correspondence to:
jemoore{at}niphl.dnet.co.uk

The ubiquitous Scedosporium apiospermum is a saprophytic filamentous fungus that causes a wide range of human infections that affect virtually every organ in the body. S apiospermum has been described as one of the major fungal agents of chronic colonisation of airways in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF).¹ This organism is the second most frequent filamentous fungus that can be found in patients with CF after Aspergillus fumigatus. The prevalence of S apiospermum from bronchial secretions of patients with CF is reported to be 0.7–9%.^1–3 Although this fungus is usually considered a simple endobronchial colonising agent in CF without pathological effects for the host, there have been some reported cases of invasive infections due to S apiospermum in patients with CF, including one case after lung transplantation.^{1 4} However, the pathogenicity of this organism in CF is still not well established.

View this figure (119K): in this window | in a new window | PowerPoint for Teaching   Figure 1 Scedosporium apiospermum growth on Sabouraud Dextrose Agar (SAB) at 22°C for 4 weeks.

 

This article has been adapted from Nagano Yuriko, Cherie Millar B, Goldsmith Colin E, Stuart Elborn J, Rendall Jackie, Moore John E. Emergence of Scedosporium apiospermum in patients with cystic fibrosis Archives of Disease in Childhood 2007;92:607

Competing interests: None.

1. Symoens, F, Knoop, C, Schrooyen, M, et al. Disseminated Scedosporium apiospermum infection in a cystic fibrosis patient after double-lung transplantation.J Heart Lung Transplant2006; 25: 603–7.[CrossRef][Medline]
2. Defontaine, A, Zouhair, R, Cimon, B, et al. Genotyping study of Scedosporium apiospermum isolates from patients with cystic fibrosis.J Clin Microbiol2002; 40: 2108–14.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
3. Horré, R, Schaal, KP, Siekmeier, R, et al. Isolation of fungi, especially Exophiala dermatitidis, in patients suffering from cystic fibrosis. A prospective study.Respiration2004; 71: 360–6.[CrossRef][Medline]
4. Cimon, B, Carrere, J, Vinatier, JF, et al. Clinical significance of Scedosporium apiospermum in patients with cystic fibrosis.Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis2000; 19: 53–6.[CrossRef][Medline]

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