Brain Abscesses Due to Pseudallescheria boydii Associated with Primary Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma of the Central Nervous System: A Case Report and Literature Review

A 54-year-old man with primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the thoracic spinal cord developed multiple brain abscesses caused by Pseudallescheria boydii. The patient had received radiotherapy and corticosteroid treatment before developing the brain abscesses. Antemortem diagnostic evaluations were inconclusive, and diagnosis was finally made from postmortem brain specimens by the use of histologic examination and isolation of the fungus in culture. The portal of entry for the organism was unknown, but the abscesses were confined to the brain alone. P. boydii should be considered as a possible cause of multiple brain abscesses in patients with malignant lymphoma, especially after immunosuppressive treatment with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. The literature on the rare occurrence of brain abscesses caused by this fungus is reviewed.