We report a case of Aspergillus terreus discitis which developed in a patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia following induction chemotherapy. A. terreus was isolated from sputum, one month earlier, but the physician did not consider it significant at the time. Magnetic resonance imaging study showed the involvement of L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1 intervertebral discs. Etiology was established by means of histology and culturing a surgical specimen of disc materials. Our patient survived after a surgical debridement and amphotericin B administration with a total dose of 2.0 g. Discitis caused by Aspergillus terreus is a very rare event. A. terreus is one of the invasive Aspergillus species. The pathogenetic mechanism is discussed and the literature is reviewed.
Aspergillosis/surgery ; Aspergillosis/pathology ; Aspergillosis/microbiology* ; Aspergillosis/drug therapy ; Aspergillosis/complications ; Aspergillus/isolation & purification ; Aspergillus/classification ; Journal Article ; Discitis/surgery ; Discitis/pathology ; Discitis/microbiology* ; Discitis/drug therapy ; Human ; Intervertebral Disk/surgery ; Intervertebral Disk/pathology ; Intervertebral Disk/microbiology* ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute/microbiology ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute/drug therapy ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute/complications* ; Lumbar Vertebrae/surgery ; Lumbar Vertebrae/pathology ; Lumbar Vertebrae/microbiology*

Hodgkin's disease, manifested as a second malignant neoplasm in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, rarely occurs, with seventeen cases reported including this cases. We presented the clinical and pathological features of a nine-year-old male child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in remission. He had cervical lymph node involvement 22 months after the diagnosis of leukemia as an initial presentation of Hodgkin's disease of mixed cellularity. A brief review of related literatures was also done.
Antineoplastic Agents/administration & dosage ; Case Report ; Child ; Hodgkin Disease/*complications/pathology ; Human ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Acute/*complications/drug therapy/pathology ; Male ; Neoplasms, Second Primary/pathology