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Candida-Associated Renal Papillary Necrosis Following Severe COVID-19 Infection

Authors:
Ranjani Ravi
Ranjani Ravi
Ranjani Ravi
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Aravind Reghukumar at Medical College Trivandrum
Aravind Reghukumar
Vimala A
Vimala A
Vimala A
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Sreeja S Nair
Sreeja S Nair
Sreeja S Nair
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
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Abstract and Figures

Candida-associated renal papillary necrosis is rare. The few cases described previously were secondary to candidemia, especially in immunocompromised hosts. We describe two patients who presented with hydroureteronephrosis and were diagnosed with candida-associated renal papillary necrosis. Both patients had a history of severe COVID-19 infection within the past year and had been treated with immunosuppressants. Both patients underwent double J stenting and anti-fungal treatment with fluconazole. One patient recovered completely, while the other patient who had chronic kidney disease stage 4 at diagnosis progressed to dialysis-dependent renal failure later following an episode of bacterial sepsis. The incidence of candida-associated renal papillary necrosis may reflect the immunomodulatory effects of COVID-19, immunosuppressants, or a combination of both.
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Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Candidiasis: 2016 Update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2015
  • CLIN INFECT DIS
It is important to realize that guidelines cannot always account for individual variation among patients. They are not intended to supplant physician judgment with respect to particular patients or special clinical situations. IDSA considers adherence to these guidelines to be voluntary, with the ultimate determination regarding their application to be made by the physician in the light of each patient's individual circumstances. © 2015 The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail [email protected]/* */
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Renal papillary necrosis
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2013
In 1877, Dr. Nikolaus Friedreich (1825-1882; student of Virchow who became Professor of Pathology at Heidelberg and who also described Friedreich’s ataxia) first described renal papillary necrosis (RPN) in patients with prostatic hypertrophy and secondary hydronephrosis. Thereafter in 1937, Froboese and Günther emphasized the association of this entity with diabetes mellitus. These authors also observed renal papillary necrosis in cases of urinary tract obstruction even in the absence of diabetes mellitus.
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Candida Urinary Tract Infections--Epidemiology
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2011
  • CLIN INFECT DIS
Candiduria is rarely present in healthy individuals. In contrast, it is a common finding in hospitalized patients, especially those in intensive care units (ICUs) who often have multiple predisposing factors, including diabetes mellitus, indwelling urinary catheters, and exposure to antimicrobials. Candiduria occurs much less commonly in the community setting. In a majority of episodes in adult patients in critical care facilities candiduria represents colonization, and antifungal therapy is not required. However, the presence of yeast in the urine can be a sign of a disseminated infection. In the critically ill newborn, candiduria often reflects disseminated candidiasis and is accompanied by obstructing fungus ball formation in the urinary tract. In ICU patients, although candiduria is a marker for increased mortality, it is only rarely attributable to Candida urinary tract infection.
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COVID-19-associated fungal infections
Article
  • Aug 2022
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-associated invasive fungal infections are an important complication in a substantial number of critically ill, hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Three groups of fungal pathogens cause co-infections in COVID-19: Aspergillus, Mucorales and Candida species, including Candida auris. Here we review the incidence of COVID-19-associated invasive fungal infections caused by these fungi in low-, middle- and high-income countries. By evaluating the epidemiology, clinical risk factors, predisposing features of the host environment and immunological mechanisms that underlie the pathogenesis of these co-infections, we set the scene for future research and development of clinical guidance. Hoenigl and colleagues review the epidemiology, immunology and clinical risk factors contributing to COVID-19-associated fungal infections.
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Fungal co-infection in COVID-19 patients: Should we be concerned?
Article
  • Apr 2020
Critically ill COVID-19 patients have higher pro-inflammatory (IL-1, IL-2, IL-6, tumor necrosis alpha) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4, IL-10) cytokine levels, less CD4 interferon-gamma expression, and fewer CD4 and CD8 cells. This severe clinical situation increases the risk of serious fungal infections, such as invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, invasive candidiasis or Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia. However, few studies have investigated fungal coinfections in this population. We describe an update on published reports on fungal coinfections and our personal experience in three Spanish hospitals. We can conclude that despite the serious disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 in many patients, the scarcity of invasive mycoses is probably due to the few bronchoscopies and necropsies performed in these patients because of the high risk in aerosol generation. However, the presence of fungal markers in clinically relevant specimens, with the exception of bronchopulmonary colonization by Candida, should make it advisable to early implement antifungal therapy.
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Changing epidemiology of candidaemia in Australia
Article
  • Nov 2016
Objectives Knowledge of contemporary epidemiology of candidaemia is essential. We aimed to identify changes since 2004 in incidence, species epidemiology and antifungal susceptibilities of Candida spp. causing candidaemia in Australia. Methods These data were collected from nationwide active laboratory-based surveillance for candidaemia over 1 year (within 2014–2015). Isolate identification was by MALDI-TOF MS supplemented by DNA sequencing. Antifungal susceptibility testing was performed using Sensititre YeastOne™. Results A total of 527 candidaemia episodes (yielding 548 isolates) were evaluable. The mean annual incidence was 2.41/10⁵ population. The median patient age was 63 years (56% of cases occurred in males). Of 498 isolates with confirmed species identity, Candida albicans was the most common (44.4%) followed by Candida glabrata complex (26.7%) and Candida parapsilosis complex (16.5%). Uncommon Candida species comprised 25 (5%) isolates. Overall, C. albicans (>99%) and C. parapsilosis (98.8%) were fluconazole susceptible. However, 16.7% (4 of 24) of Candida tropicalis were fluconazole- and voriconazole-resistant and were non-WT to posaconazole. Of C. glabrata isolates, 6.8% were resistant/non-WT to azoles; only one isolate was classed as resistant to caspofungin (MIC of 0.5 mg/L) by CLSI criteria, but was micafungin and anidulafungin susceptible. There was no azole/echinocandin co-resistance. Conclusions We report an almost 1.7-fold proportional increase in C. glabrata candidaemia (26.7% versus 16% in 2004) in Australia. Antifungal resistance was generally uncommon, but azole resistance (16.7% of isolates) amongst C. tropicalis may be emerging.
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Invasive Candidiasis
Article
  • Oct 2015
  • NEW ENGL J MED
Invasive candidiasis is the most common fungal disease among hospitalized patients in the developed world. Invasive candidiasis comprises both candidemia and deep-seated tissue candidiasis. Candidemia is generally viewed as the more common type of the disease, and it accounts for the majority of cases included in clinical trials. Deep-seated candidiasis arises from either hematogenous dissemination or direct inoculation of candida species to a sterile site, such as the peritoneal cavity (Fig. 1). Mortality among patients with invasive candidiasis is as high as 40%, even when patients receive antifungal therapy. In addition, the global shift in favor of nonalbicans candida species is troubling, as is the emerging resistance to antifungal drugs. During the past few years, new insights have substantially changed diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
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Papillary Necrosis due to Candida albicans in a Renal Allograft
Article
  • Nov 1968
  • ARCH INTERN MED
Candida infection of the kidney is a common complication of systemic candidiasis.1-3 The usual route of infection is via the blood with production of renal abscesses,2 but rarely local infection occurs in the renal pelvis and ureter, sometimes producing a fungus ball.4,5 Three cases of papillary necrosis due to Candida have been reported.2,6,7 Corticosteroids, immunosuppressive drugs, antibiotics, diabetes mellitus, and neoplastic diseases favor the development of Candida infection and its dissemination. The present patient developed papillary necrosis due to C albicans in a cadaver renal allograft. To our knowledge, this is the first report of this rare, but not unexpected, complication in a transplanted kidney.
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Candida-associated Renal Papillary Necrosis
Article
  • Mar 1981
An autopsy series of 42 patients who had visceral candidiasis was studied to determine the incidence and clinicopathologic features of Candida-associated renal papillary necrosis. Papillary necrosis was found in nine patients (21%), associated in all instances with fungal invasion of the kidney. The single most common associated condition was prematurity, present in three neonates, and antibiotic or immunosuppressive therapy was a contributing factor in most instances. The clinical significance of candidal papillary necrosis is unclear because most patients had other causes of renal failure. Antemortem diagnosis is exceptionally difficult and had not been made in any of these patients. Pyelograms have aided in the diagnosis in only one well-documented case in the literature. This study shows that the pathologic features of candidal renal papillary necrosis correlate well with the findings in experimentally induced disease, and that this lesion appears to be more common than previously suspected.
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