Blasto-ing through the chest wall: Empyema necessitans due to pulmonary blastomycosis

Empyema necessitans is a rare complication of empyema and often associated with chronic, untreated infections. Here we report a case of a 28-year-old male who presented with cough, fever, pleuritic chest pain, and left chest wall mass who was found to have empyema necessitans caused by Blastomycosis...

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Main Authors: Cameron G. Gmehlin, Nicholas P. Bergeron, Vaishnavi Ramesh, Haris Akhtar, Zelalem Temesgen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:IDCases
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221425092500040X
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author Cameron G. Gmehlin
Nicholas P. Bergeron
Vaishnavi Ramesh
Haris Akhtar
Zelalem Temesgen
author_facet Cameron G. Gmehlin
Nicholas P. Bergeron
Vaishnavi Ramesh
Haris Akhtar
Zelalem Temesgen
author_sort Cameron G. Gmehlin
collection DOAJ
description Empyema necessitans is a rare complication of empyema and often associated with chronic, untreated infections. Here we report a case of a 28-year-old male who presented with cough, fever, pleuritic chest pain, and left chest wall mass who was found to have empyema necessitans caused by Blastomycosis dermatiditis. He was neither immunocompromised nor had exposures to soil or freshwater sources. Empyema necessitans caused by Blastomyces is rare, with only three other case reports published in the literature. We write to raise awareness of this phenomenon and highlight the importance of maintaining strong clinical suspicion for fungal etiologies of chronic constitutional and pulmonary symptoms, especially when unresponsive to empiric antibiotics.
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id doaj-art-e1c65bdf7f194392a0de7c5c5321f9b2
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issn 2214-2509
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publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Elsevier
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series IDCases
spelling doaj-art-e1c65bdf7f194392a0de7c5c5321f9b22025-08-20T02:57:32ZengElsevierIDCases2214-25092025-01-0139e0218510.1016/j.idcr.2025.e02185Blasto-ing through the chest wall: Empyema necessitans due to pulmonary blastomycosisCameron G. Gmehlin0Nicholas P. Bergeron1Vaishnavi Ramesh2Haris Akhtar3Zelalem Temesgen4Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA; Corresponding author.Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USADivision of Public Health, Infectious Diseases, and Occupational Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USADivision of Public Health, Infectious Diseases, and Occupational Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USADivision of Public Health, Infectious Diseases, and Occupational Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USAEmpyema necessitans is a rare complication of empyema and often associated with chronic, untreated infections. Here we report a case of a 28-year-old male who presented with cough, fever, pleuritic chest pain, and left chest wall mass who was found to have empyema necessitans caused by Blastomycosis dermatiditis. He was neither immunocompromised nor had exposures to soil or freshwater sources. Empyema necessitans caused by Blastomyces is rare, with only three other case reports published in the literature. We write to raise awareness of this phenomenon and highlight the importance of maintaining strong clinical suspicion for fungal etiologies of chronic constitutional and pulmonary symptoms, especially when unresponsive to empiric antibiotics.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221425092500040XBlastomycesEmpyema NecessitansFungalPulmonaryBlastomycosis
spellingShingle Cameron G. Gmehlin
Nicholas P. Bergeron
Vaishnavi Ramesh
Haris Akhtar
Zelalem Temesgen
Blasto-ing through the chest wall: Empyema necessitans due to pulmonary blastomycosis
IDCases
Blastomyces
Empyema Necessitans
Fungal
Pulmonary
Blastomycosis
title Blasto-ing through the chest wall: Empyema necessitans due to pulmonary blastomycosis
title_full Blasto-ing through the chest wall: Empyema necessitans due to pulmonary blastomycosis
title_fullStr Blasto-ing through the chest wall: Empyema necessitans due to pulmonary blastomycosis
title_full_unstemmed Blasto-ing through the chest wall: Empyema necessitans due to pulmonary blastomycosis
title_short Blasto-ing through the chest wall: Empyema necessitans due to pulmonary blastomycosis
title_sort blasto ing through the chest wall empyema necessitans due to pulmonary blastomycosis
topic Blastomyces
Empyema Necessitans
Fungal
Pulmonary
Blastomycosis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221425092500040X
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AT vaishnaviramesh blastoingthroughthechestwallempyemanecessitansduetopulmonaryblastomycosis
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