Gastrointestinal Basidiobolomycosis with Biliary Tract Involvement in the Early Postpartum Period: A Case Report and...

Introduction: Gastrointestinal basidiobolomycosis is an uncommon invasive fungal infection caused by Basidiobolus ranarum, an environmental mould endemic to the arid south-west of Saudi Arabia and to a handful of other hot, dry regions. Its non-specific presentation routinely invites misdiagnosis as inflammatory bowel disease, tuberculosis or malignancy, and extension to the biliary tree is decidedly rare. Case Presentation: We report a 25-year-old Saudi woman who developed chronic watery diarrhoea and pronounced weight loss two months after her first delivery. Severe microcytic anaemia, leukocytosis, a very high erythrocyte sedimentation rate and multisegmental colonic wall thickening were initially attributed to inflammatory bowel disease complicated by Clostridioides difficile colitis. She subsequently required cholecystectomy for acalculous cholecystitis and then deteriorated, with gastric outlet obstruction and collections at the gallbladder bed. Re-examination of the gallbladder specimen revealed broad, pauci-septate hyphae enveloped by the Splendore-Hoeppli phenomenon, and culture yielded an isolate phenotypically identified as B. ranarum. Voriconazole followed by itraconazole achieved near-complete clinical and radiological recovery. Discussion: We hypothesise that the early puerperium could represent a possible, though as yet unproven, window of susceptibility to this infection. Conclusions: In endemic regions, gastrointestinal basidiobolomycosis should be considered when presumed inflammatory bowel disease behaves atypically; deep tissue sampling is often decisive, and prolonged triazole therapy can achieve an excellent outcome.