Abstract

  Pan-sinusitis due to dematiaceous (darkly pigmented) fungi appears to be increasing in frequency. The following report describes an immunocompetent pediatric female with a history of nasal congestion, rhinorrhea, severe headaches, and proptosis. Her social history included cocaine snorting and chronic use of intranasal steroid-containing sprays. A purulent, foul-smelling yellowish-green mucus and right ethmoid sinus tissue were submitted for bacterial and fungal cultures and pathology studies. The stains were positive for black-pigmented, septate hyphae and fungal cultures grew dematiaceous, furry-like colonies. Macroscopic and microscopic appearance of growth was consistent with the mold, Curvularia. Her sinuses contained sheets of eosinophils along with numerous Charcot leyden crystals. These findings along with the isolation and identification of Curvularia, were diagnostic for allergic fungal pan-sinusitis. Fungal sinusitis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with a similar history.

Keywords: Pediatric; Immunocompetent; Pansinusitis; Cocaine-Abuse; Dematiaceous Fungus

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Citation

Citation: Diane Claire Halstead. “Pan-sinusitis in an Immunocompetent Pediatric Patient with a History of Intranasal Cocaine Abuse". Acta Scientific Clinical Case Reports 1.11 (2020): 03-06.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Diane Claire Halstead. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.