OSTEOMYELITIS CAUSED BY NEOSARTORYA-PSEUDOFISCHERI

The first case of osteomyelitis caused by Neosartorya pseudofischeri is reported. The patient, a 77-year-old male with a history of silicosis and tuberculosis, on X-ray examination revealed lytic lesions of L(2) and L(3) vertebrae suspicious for metastatic lesions. Histologic examination of biopsy specimens from vertebral bodies showed short, distorted, extra- and intracellular, hyaline hyphal fragments. The culture from the biopsy tissue produced numerous, evanescent asci containing eight ellipsoidal ascospores with two distinctive equatorial bands ca. 1 mu m, wide. When examined by a scanning electron microscope, ascospores exhibited a convex surface ornamented with raised flaps of tissue, in shape resembling triangular projections or long ridge lines. The conidial state (anamorph) was identified as Aspergillus thermomutatus on the basis of conidial columns which were smaller and less tightly packed as well as of a lighter shade of green than those observed in Aspergillus fumigatus. On the basis of the morphologic features of the ascospores, the teleomorph was identified as N. pseudofischeri.