Pulmonary candidiasis in infants: clinical, radiologic, and pathologic features

Abstract

Although systemic candidiasis is common in hospitalized patients, invasive pulmonary candidiasis is rare and generally considered of secondary importance when found at autopsy. Autopsy records for a 12 year period were reviewed and 15 infants were found in whom systemic candidiasis was considered the primary or a major contributory cause of death. Significant pulmonary involvement was found in 14. There were three characteristic histologic patterns of pulmonary candidiasis: (1) embolic (arterial-invasive) (seven cases); (2) disseminated (capillary-invasive) (four cases); and (3) bronchopulmonary (air space-invasive) (three cases, including one congenital infection). An indwelling vascular catheter or infected cutdown wound was the portal of entry in every case of the embolic form of pulmonary candidiasis. Systemic and pulmonary Candida infections were rarely diagnosed during life. The typical radiographic appearance was progressive air space consolidation, although two infants with the embolic form of pulmonary candidiasis had focal cavitation. In general, there was poor correlation between the radiologic and pathologic findings, and pathologic findings other than pulmonary candidiasis undoubtedly accounted for many of the radiologic abnormalities observed. There were no radiologic findings that could be used to differentiate the three histologic forms of lung involvement in these patients. Small lung nodules, the earliest histologic lesion of pulmonary candidiasis, were not seen in any patient owing to the presence of other lung disease and suboptimal radiographic technique.