Salvage therapy with voriconazole for invasive fungal infections in patients failing or intolerant to standard antifungal therapy

BACKGROUND

Invasive fungal infections (IFI), particularly those caused by Aspergillus and other angioinvasive molds, are associated with an excessive mortality despite therapy.

METHODS

Voriconazole was prescribed on a compassionate basis to patients with IFI who were intolerant to or who had progressed despite standard therapy. Outcome was determined by protocol-based criteria as established by the consensus definitions (complete response [CR], partial response [PR], stable disease, failure, and intolerance).

RESULTS

Forty-five patients were enrolled in a compassionate release program (29 [64%] because of failure of response to standard therapy), between 1998 and 2002. Of the 45 patients enrolled, 35 (78%) had invasive Aspergillus, 3 (7%) had Fusarium, and 2 (4%) had Scedosporium infections. Underlying illnesses were as follows: 13 (29%) solid-organ transplant (SOT), 11 (24%) BMT, and 7 (13%) hematologic malignancy. Site of infection was as follows: 26 (58%) pulmonary, 9 (20%) disseminated, 5 (11%) central nervous system (CNS), and 3 (7%) sinus. Overall response rates were as follows: 9 (20%) CR, 17 (38%) PR, 15 (33%) failure, and 4 (9%) intolerant. Seven of the eight (88%) patients with sinus or CNS disease demonstrated stabilization of the IFI. The median duration of voriconazole therapy was 79 days with 9 (20%) patients receiving over 1 year of therapy. Nine thousand one hundred twenty-eight days of therapy were given with only four serious adverse events in two cases considered possibly or probably drug related.

CONCLUSIONS

In this population of severely immunocompromised patients with life-threatening IFI who have failed or were intolerant to standard antifungal therapy, voriconazole demonstrated substantial efficacy and an acceptable level of toxicity.

Acral purpuric plaques in a woman with asthma: a case of allergic granulomatosis angiitis

Allergic granulomatosis angiitis (AGA) is a rare systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology. Most patients are adults in their third to fourth decade of life. The combination of asthma, eosinophilia, and necrotizing vasculitis is almost invariably present. Cutaneous lesions are found in up to 70% of the patients and include nodules, hemorrhagic lesions, and erythema multiformelike lesions. We provide a case report of a 30-year-old woman with asthma who presented with acral purpuric plaques and was diagnosed with AGA.