Blastomycosis Presenting as Multiple Splenic Abscesses: Case Report and Review of the Literature

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Date
2010-1-1
Authors
Al-Nassar, Sami
MacNair, Tracy
Lipschitz, Jeremy
Greenberg, Howard
Trepman, Elly
Hamza, Sate
Embil, John M
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Abstract

A 31-year-old Canadian Aboriginal man from northwestern Ontario presented with left upper quadrant pain and a tender left upper quadrant mass. Evaluation with a computed tomography scan showed multiple lesions within the spleen, a collection between the splenic tip and splenic flexure of the colon, and several small adrenal lesions. Computed tomographic-guided needle biopsy showed necrotizing granulomatous inflammation and multinucleated giant cells. Gomori’s methenamine silver stain showed broad-based budding yeast consistent with Blastomyces dermatitidis. Abdominal symptoms resolved after two months of oral itraconazole. Multiple splenic abscesses are a rare presentation of blastomycosis and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of left upper quadrant abdominal pain in a patient with a history of travel or residence in a region endemic for B dermatitidis.

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Sami Al-Nassar, Tracy MacNair, Jeremy Lipschitz, et al., “Blastomycosis Presenting as Multiple Splenic Abscesses: Case Report and Review of the Literature,” Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 53-56, 2010. doi:10.1155/2010/679604