Treatment of invasive Aspergillus sinusitis with liposomal-amphotericin B

Abstract

Invasive sinonasal aspergillosis is a severe and frequently fatal infection in immunosuppressed patients with hematologic malignancies. Seven patients with sinonasal aspergillosis who failed to respond to conventional amphotericin B (AmpB) were treated with liposomal AmpB (L-AmpB).AmpB was incorporated into multilamellar vesicles consisting of dimyristoyl phosphatidyl-choline and dimyristoyl phosphatidylglycerol in a 7:3 molar ratio. Five patients had underlying hematologic malignancies, one patient had aplastic anemia, and one patient had no underlying disease. All patients had biopsy-proven invasive Aspergillus sinusitis, and had failed conventional antifungal therapy including AmpB. Five patients were cured and two did not respond to treatment. Fever and chills were infrequent and, when they occurred, mild, and responded well to conventional management. No severe renal or central nervous system toxicity was observed. L-AmpB is effective and less toxic than conventional AmpB in the treatment of invasive Aspergillus sinusitis.