Torulopsis glabrata-infected pancreatic pseudocysts. Diagnosis and treatment

Torulopsis glabrata, a fungus commensal with the human gastrointestinal tract, so far has not been recognized as a cause of pancreatic sepsis. We report the cases of two patients with pancreatic pseudocysts that became infected with T. glabrata. A 20-year-old woman 6 weeks postpartum had acute gallstone pancreatitis complicated by pseudocyst formation and pancreatic sepsis. Pseudocyst fluid obtained at cystogastrostomy showed a pure culture of T. glabrata. A 52-year-old man with multiple medical problems showed signs of an infected pseudocyst 9 days after he was hospitalized for alcoholic pancreatitis. Computed tomography (CT)-guided aspiration of the the pseudocyst fluid confirmed T.glabrata as the infecting organism. Neither patient had a history of endoscopic or surgical manipulation. Prolonged therapy with broad-spectrum antibiotics and parenteral hyperalimentation were implicated as risk factors, and other possible pathogenic mechanisms were considered. Both patients were treated successfully with a combination of percutaneous or surgical drainage and amphotericin B, which appears to be the most active drug in vitro. The efficacy of other antifungal agents is discussed. In the context of pancreatitis and/or pseudocysts, empiric therapy with broad-spectrum antibiotics should be minimized because it predisposes patients to superinfection by opportunistic pathogens.