Disseminated fungal infection complicated with pulmonary haemorrhage in a case of acute myeloid leukaemia

Abstract

Pulmonary haemorrhage is a common necropsy finding in acute leukaemia, however, it is rarely diagnosed during life. A man with acute myeloid leukaemia is reported who presented with disseminated fungal infection, anaemia, thrombocytopenia, and subconjuctival and petechial haemorrhages. During the course of the patient's illness, the chest infection was complicated with bilateral pulmonary haemorrhage. The diagnosis of pulmonary haemorrhage was based on characteristic clinical and radiological findings. The patient improved on treatment.

Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis in Acute Leukemia: Current Issues for Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Treatment

“…Pulmonary infiltrates in febrile neutropenic patients are associated with a particularly high risk of mortality and the usual causes in a leukemia patient are infection and hemorrhage [36,37]. Although the chest radiography is a useful method for detecting IPA, the findings are usually non-specific and findings indicative of IPA are often absent, and other infections may sometimes produce similar picture [11,17].…”