[Penicillinosis of the paranasal sinuses]

A 29-year old female patient suffering from severe pain in her right eye, headache, ophthalmoplegia and ptosis of the right eye, total roentgenological opacity of the right maxillary sinus and ethmoidal cells , as well as signs of bone destruction in the orbital floor, was operated on under the suspicion of a tumour. Histological and bacteriological examinations as well as fungus cultures indicated, however, that the patient was suffering from a chronic infection caused by Penicillium notatum. Surgical treatment and postoperative intravenous administration of amphotericin B resulted in complete recovery of the patient.

Is multiple sclerosis caused by an oral spirochaete?

Evidence of a direct link between chronic sinusitis and multiple sclerosis (MS) prompted examination of the old "spirochaetal hypothesis". This hypothesis has not been shown to be erroneous and a spirochaetal infection of the central nervous system could explain the specific pathological, immunological, and epidemiological features of MS.