Brachial plexus neuritis and fatal hemorrhage following aspergillus infection of a hickman catheter

A patient with relapse of acute granulocytic leukemia developed an Aspergillus infection along the subcutaneous tract of a silicone rubber indwelling central venous catheter. The infection invaded the brachial plexus resulting in paralysis of the right upper extremity and subsequently invaded a major artery of the arm resulting in the demise of the patient. Both an infectious brachial plexus neuritis and fatal hemorrhage secondary to a Hickman catheter are apparently rare.