Management of Aspergillus osteomyelitis: report of failure of liposomal amphotericin B and response to voriconazole in an immunocompetent host and literature review

Abstract

Presented here is a case of Aspergillus osteomyelitis in an immunocompetent patient that progressed despite surgery and prolonged treatment with liposomal amphotericin B; the report is followed by a review of the literature. The review of this case and 41 similar cases found an overall cure rate of 69%. The importance of surgery when amphotericin B is used as first-line therapy is indicated by a 14% cure rate when amphotericin B is used alone compared to 75% when combined with surgery. When therapy is failing or surgery is contraindicated, dose escalation using a lipid formulation was not effective. On review, the addition of another agent, in particular 5-fluorocytosine, appears to be more beneficial. The patient reported here responded rapidly to voriconazole, a promising new antifungal agent for Aspergillus infections.