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

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,...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sami Al-Nassar, Tracy MacNair, Jeremy Lipschitz, Howard Greenberg, Elly Trepman, Sate Hamza, John M Embil
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2010-01-01
Series:Canadian Journal of Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2010/679604
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1712-9532