Abstract

A case of disseminated bilateral pulmonary adiaspiromycosis is reported in a two year old Finnish girl. She recovered from this rare infection after treatment with amphotericin B. She is the first human case of adiaspiromycosis in Scandinavia and she is the youngest child with this disease reported so far. Electron microscopy showed that the three layers of the spore wall were not typical; rather, there seemed to be a gradual transition between the main wall zones, which may be split into an indefinite number of thin layers. Varying numbers and thicknesses were seen with different staining methods, and in different spores. Diagnosis relies on recognition of the fungus in a pulmonary biopsy specimen, because there are no reliable serological tests and culture of the fungus is time consuming and not always successful. It was thought that this patient had become infected as a result of contact with soil dust containing the spores in the yard surrounding her home, and as a result of her mother's work in a large garden shop.