Imaging characteristics of disseminated<i>Geosmithia argillacea</i>causing severe diskospondylitis and meningoencephalomyelitis in a dog

Kawalilak, Lukas T.; Chen, Annie V.; Roberts, Greg R.

doi:10.1002/ccr3.372

Cited by 7 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…However, our MIC and MEC results are consistent with those previously reported in the literature 14,17 . Four of 5 isolates in our study had high MICs to voriconazole, consistent with antifungal susceptibility test results for isolates from both dogs and humans 7,13,17‐19 . This observation is important, because voriconazole is commonly the initial drug of choice for disseminated aspergillosis in dogs and, with inaccurate identification of the fungus, clinicians might inadvertently select an antifungal drug to which Rasamsonia spp.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Similar to other systemic mold infections such as aspergillosis, and in agreement with previous case reports of Rasamsonia infections, discospondylitis with or without vertebral osteomyelitis was a common finding in this cohort of dogs 2,7,11,13 . Dissemination of Rasamsonia is not typical in human patients and accounted for only 30.4% of infected human patients with widespread disease in a recent study, a finding associated with immunosuppression 10 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Accurate identification of an infecting mold species requires PCR‐based techniques, genetic sequencing, or matrix‐associated laser desorption ionization‐time of flight (MALDI‐TOF) mass spectrometry, without which organisms may be misidentified based on their phenotypic morphology in culture alone. Consequently, some isolates from fungal infections previously may have been identified incorrectly, preventing thorough analysis of risk factors and therapeutic success 7 …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rasamsonia spp. have been described as pathogens of dogs in 4 case reports 7,11‐13 . Three of the 4 dogs were German Shepherd dogs evaluated for multisystemic clinical signs and were euthanized because of progressive disease and declining quality of life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disseminated Rasamsonia argillacea species complex infections in 8 dogs

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Reagan

Hulsebosch

et al. 2021

Veterinary Internal Medicne

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Background Clinical features, treatment, and outcome of opportunistic infections with Rasamsonia spp., a nonpigmented filamentous mold, are not well documented in dogs. Objectives Describe clinical, radiographic, pathologic features, and outcome of dogs with disseminated Rasamsonia species complex infections. Animals Eight client‐owned dogs. Methods Retrospective case series. Medical records were reviewed to describe signalment, history, clinicopathologic and imaging findings, microbiologic and immunologic results, cyto‐ and histopathologic diagnoses, treatment, and outcome. Results Presenting complaints were nonspecific with anorexia (n = 5) and back pain (n = 4) most common. Five dogs were German Shepherd dogs. Six dogs had multifocal discospondylitis and 2 had pleural effusion. Six dogs had Rasamsonia piperina and 2 had Rasamsonia argillacea infections with isolates identified using DNA sequencing. Rasamsonia spp. were isolated by urine culture in 5 of 7 dogs. Five of 6 dogs had positive serum Aspergillus galactomannan antigen enzyme immunoassay (EIA) results. Median survival time was 82 days, and 317 days for dogs that survived to discharge. Four died during initial hospitalization (median survival, 6 days). All isolates had low minimum effective concentrations (MECs) to echinocandins with variable minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for azole antifungal drugs. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Rasamsonia spp. infections in dogs are associated with multisystemic disease involving the vertebral column, central nervous system, kidneys, spleen, lymph nodes, lungs, and heart. The infection shares clinical features with other systemic mold infections and can be misidentified when using phenotypical microbiologic methods. Molecular techniques are required to identify the organism and guide appropriate antifungal treatment.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disseminated Rasamsonia argillacea species complex infections in 8 dogs

Dear

Reagan

Hulsebosch

et al. 2021

Veterinary Internal Medicne

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“…Since its first report in humans as Penicillium emersonii (2), there has been an increasing number of cases reported in both dogs (3,4,5) and humans (6). Nevertheless, it is likely that the number of human infections caused by this fungus has long been underestimated because of the lack of specificity of its morphological features and to subsequent misidentifications with some Penicillium or Paecilomyces species.…”

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confidence: 99%

Long-Term Rasamsonia argillacea Complex Species Colonization Revealed by PCR Amplification of Repetitive DNA Sequences in Cystic Fibrosis Patients

et al. 2016

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The aim of this work was to document molecular epidemiology of Rasamsonia argillacea species complex isolates from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. In this work, 116 isolates belonging to this species complex and collected from 26 CF patients and one patient with chronic granulomatous disease were characterized using PCR amplification assays of repetitive DNA sequences and electrophoretic separation of amplicons (rep-PCR). Data revealed a clustering consistent with molecular species identification. A single species was recovered from most patients. Rasamsonia aegroticola was the most common species, followed by R. argillacea sensu stricto and R. piperina, while R. eburnea was not identified. Of 29 genotypes, 7 were shared by distinct patients while 22 were patient specific. In each clinical sample, most isolates exhibited an identical genotype. Genotyping of isolates recovered from sequential samples from the same patient confirmed the capability of R. aegroticola and R. argillacea isolates to chronically colonize the airways. A unique genotype was recovered from two siblings during a 6-month period. In the other cases, a largely dominant genotype was detected. Present results which support the use of rep-PCR for both identification and genotyping for the R. argillacea species complex provide the first molecular evidence of chronic airway colonization by these fungi in CF patients.R asamsonia argillacea, which was first reported in clinical practice as a Penicillium species, then reclassified in the genus Geosmithia, and finally reassigned in 2013 to the new genus Rasamsonia, is now considered an emerging pathogen (1). Since its first report in humans as Penicillium emersonii (2), there has been an increasing number of cases reported in both dogs (3, 4, 5) and humans (6). Nevertheless, it is likely that the number of human infections caused by this fungus has long been underestimated because of the lack of specificity of its morphological features and to subsequent misidentifications with some Penicillium or Paecilomyces species.Only six species were previously recognized in the genus Rasamsonia described in 2012, i.e., R. argillacea, R. composticola, R. brevistipitata, R. byssochlamydoides, R. cylindrospora, and R. emersonii (7). However, multilocus sequence analysis of several R. argillacea isolates revealed a clustering which superimposed some phenotypic differences. Therefore, R. argillacea is now considered a species complex comprising four distinct species: R. argillacea sensu stricto, R. piperina, R. aegroticola, and R. eburnea (8).Infections caused by species of the R. argillacea complex have been reported in various clinical contexts in human. Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) (9, 10, 11) and cystic fibrosis (CF) (12,13,14,15,16,17) are the major underlying clinical conditions. Rasamsonia infections may also occur in bone marrow transplant recipients (18, 19) but also may occur in the absence of any predisposing factors, as evidenced by the pulmonary and aortic graft infection reported by Doyon et al. (...

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