Peritonitis due to Rhizopus in a patient undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Abstract

A 61-year-old man who had end-stage renal disease secondary to diabetes mellitus and hypertension developed peritonitis due to infection with Rhizopus as a complication of receiving continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). At the onset of infection, the patient was neither acidemic nor hyperglycemic; in addition, deferoxamine had not been administered and Elastoplast dressings had not been applied. The infection occurred after the technique for disinfection of the catheter used for CAPD had been changed. The catheter was removed, and therapy with amphotericin B was initiated. Although the patient died of apparently unrelated causes, an autopsy revealed active fungal infection with multiple abscesses and superficial invasion of the ileal wall.