Lack of galactomannan reactivity in dematiaceous molds recovered from cancer patients with phaeohyphomycosis

Ben-Ami, Ronen; LaSala, P. Rocco; Lewis, Russell E.; Kontoyiannis, Dimitrios P.

doi:10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2009.09.015

« Previous Next »Diagnostic Microbiology & Infectious Disease
Volume 66, Issue 2 , Pages 200-203, February 2010

Lack of galactomannan reactivity in dematiaceous molds recovered from cancer patients with phaeohyphomycosis

Ronen Ben-Ami
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-713-745-1371; fax: +1-713-745-6839.
P. Rocco LaSala
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Russell E. Lewis
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Dimitrios P. Kontoyiannis
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Infection Control and Employee Health, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
- College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

Received 29 June 2009; accepted 20 September 2009. published online 16 October 2009.

Abstract

We determined the in vitro galactomannan reactivity of isolates recovered from 17 patients with invasive phaeohyphomycosis, 4 of whom had positive galactomannan antigenemia. All isolates were nonreactive using the galactomannan immunoassay. Galactomannan antigenemia in patients with phaeohyphomycosis should raise the possibility of concomitant invasive aspergillosis.

Keywords: Phaeohyphomycosis, Galactomannan, Dematiaceous mold