Infectious diseases, including those caused by fungi, remain important issues in patients receiving malignant lymphoma chemotherapy. We herein report a rare case of Exophiala dermatitidis fungemia during chemotherapy in a 67-year-old woman admitted to our hospital. She had a fever that could not be resolved despite antifungal therapy. Yeast-like fungi were detected in blood culture samples, but biochemical identification was difficult. E. dermatitidis , a black mold, was identified using time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The patient finally improved after her treatment was switched to voriconazole. Fungal infection is difficult to diagnose and treat, but this novel approach can improve patients' outcomes.

We investigated the incidence of cardiotoxicity, its risk factors, and the clinical course of cardiac function in patients with malignant lymphoma (ML) who received a cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisolone (CHOP) regimen. Among all ML patients who received a CHOP regimen with or without rituximab from January 2008 to December 2017 in Nagoya City University hospital, 229 patients who underwent both baseline and follow‐up echocardiography and had baseline left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥50% were analyzed, retrospectively. Cardiotoxicity was defined as a ≥10% decline in LVEF and LVEF < 50%; recovery from cardiotoxicity was defined as a ≥5% increase in LVEF and LVEF ≥50%. Re‐cardiotoxicity was defined as meeting the criteria of cardiotoxicity again. With a median follow‐up of 1132 days, cardiotoxicity, symptomatic heart failure, and cardiovascular death were observed in 48 (21%), 30 (13%), and 5 (2%) patients, respectively. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that history of ischemic heart disease (hazard ratio (HR), 3.15; 95% CI, 1.17‐8.47, P = .023) and decreased baseline LVEF (HR per 10% increase, 2.55; 95% CI, 1.49‐4.06; P < .001) were independent risk factors for cardiotoxicity. Recovery from cardiotoxicity and re‐cardiotoxicity were observed in 21 of 48, and six of 21, respectively. Cardiac condition before chemotherapy seemed to be most relevant for developing cardiotoxicity. Furthermore, Continuous management must be required in patients with cardiotoxicity, even after LVEF recovery.

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