Cerebral abscess caused by Cladosporium bantianum. Case report.

A case is presented of a cerebral abscess in a 59-yr-old woman caused by the dematiaceous fungus Cladosporium bantianum (Sacc.) Borelli (= Cladosporium trichoides Emmons). The morphological and physiological properties of the isolate and its pathogenicity for experimental animals were investigated and compared with some other Cladosporium species. The neurotropism exhibited by C. bantianum in human infections was found also in the test animals. Despite surgical excision and therapy with the antifungal drugs amphotericin B and flucytosine, the case had a fatal outcome, the patient dying from a pulmonary embolism 6 mth after the onset of symptoms. The clinical entity of central nervous system infections by dematiaceous fungi is discussed in relation to the present case.