Zygomycosis (absidiomycosis) in an AIDS patient. Absidiomycosis in AIDS.

Absidia corymbifera is rarely cited as a cause of zygomycosis in the human host. Presented here is a case of absidiomycosis in a 29 year old construction worker hospitalized with a 6 year of intravenous drug abuse, serological evidence for HIV infection, and the symptomatology of AIDS. A CT scan and gallium uptake imaging identified a nonfunctioning right kidney. Following a biopsy and a nephrectomy, histopathology revealed hyphal components consistent with zygomycosis. Culture of the biopsy and surgical specimens yielded A. corymbifera. Clinically the patient responded well to amphotericin B therapy.