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. 2022 Nov;36(11):e24737.
doi: 10.1002/jcla.24737. Epub 2022 Oct 21.

Clinical features of patients with talaromycosis marneffei and microbiological characteristics of the causative strains

Lei Peng  1 , Yu-Bo Shi  2 , Lin Zheng  3 , Li-Qing Hu  2 , Xing-Bei Weng  1   2
Affiliations

Clinical features of patients with talaromycosis marneffei and microbiological characteristics of the causative strains

Lei Peng et al. J Clin Lab Anal. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Background: Talaromyces marneffei (T. marneffei) is a temperature-dependent dimorphic fungus that is mainly prevalent in Southeast Asia and South China and often causes disseminated life-threatening infections. This study aimed to investigate the clinical features and improve the early diagnosis of talaromycosis marneffei in nonendemic areas.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of six cases of T. marneffei infection. We describe the clinical manifestations, laboratory tests, and imaging manifestations of the six patients.

Results: Talaromyces marneffei infection was confirmed by sputum culture, blood culture, tissue biopsy, and metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS). In this study, there were five disseminated-type patients and two HIV patients. One patient died within 24 h, and the others demonstrated considerable improvement after definitive diagnosis.

Conclusions: Due to the lack of significant clinical presentations of talaromycosis marneffei, many cases may be easily misdiagnosed in nonendemic areas. It is particularly important to analyze the imaging manifestations and laboratory findings of infected patients. With the rapid development of molecular biology, mNGS may be a rapid and effective diagnostic method.

Keywords: Talaromyces marneffei; disseminated Talaromyces marneffei infection; laboratory test; metagenomic next-generation sequencing; talaromycosis marneffei.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Chest CT images among patients infected with Talaromyces marneffei. (A) The blue arrow indicates enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes (mediastinal window). (B) The blue arrow indicates high‐density plaque and strip. (C) Blue arrows indicate multiple patchy ground‐glass opacities. (D) Blue arrows indicate bilateral pleural effusion.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Colonoscopy and histopathological examination. (A) The mucosa had apparent hyperemia and edema, as well as scattered erosion and ulceration, according to a colonoscopy. (B) Colon mucosa was stained with hexamine silver staining, showing several yeast‐like organisms with septate forms (indicated by the blue arrow).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Culture and microscopy observation of Talaromyces marneffei. (A) Morphology and wine pigment of T. marneffei colonies from alveolar lavage fluid culture on Sabouraud agar medium for 7 days at 25°C. (B) Typical broom‐shaped, branching septate hyphae of T. marneffei at 25°C with lactophenol cotton blue staining (×400).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Blood smear examination. Blood smears were stained with Wright‐Giemsa staining, which showed small round‐to‐ovoid yeast cells within the neutrophil cytoplasm. Yeast cells were unevenly stained and showed strong staining at one end (indicated by the blue arrow) (×1000).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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