Fungal infections remain an important cause of morbidity and mortality in surgical settings, with critically ill patients, transplant recipients, and sick neonates all especially vulnerable. Over the past few decades, technological and scientific advancements have improved physicians’ ability to sustain life in critically ill patients; developments in chemotherapeutics and immune-based therapies have yielded increased survival for many cancer patients; organ transplantation has evolved dramatically; and the use of invasive therapies (eg, ventricular assist devices) has increased markedly. With these changes has come an increase in the incidence of serious fungal infections, including the less common but potentially fatal noncandidal infections caused by Aspergillus and the Zygomycetes Mucor and Rhizopus. This review outlines an approach to the workup and management of the nonneutropenic surgical patient with a suspected noncandidal infection (aspergillosis and zygomycosis). Figures show biopsy samples from an elderly man with chronic progressive disseminated histoplasmosis and thick-walled, broad-based budding yeasts typical for Blastomyces dermatitidis on biopsy material.
This review contains 2 figures and 47 references
Key words: aspergillosis, aspergillosis prophylaxis, blastomycosis, Cryptococcus, histoplasmosis, noncandidal fungal infections
Care of the Critically Ill Surgical Patient
