Pleural Aspergillosis in an otherwise healthy individual

Pleural Aspergillosis is a rare entity, with most of the cases occurring on a background of lung disease or surgery. We report a case of a 16-year-old boy who developed pleural Aspergillosis in the absence of any obvious pre-disposing factors. Patient presented with fever, dry cough and left sided chest discomfort of 6 weeks duration. A chest radiograph revealed features of the left pyopneumothorax. Despite being started on presumptive antituberculous treatment and intercostal drainage his symptoms failed to resolve. The sputum and pus were then subjected to fungal smears and culture, which indicated growth of Aspergillus fumigatus. We report this case in view of the extreme rarity of pleural Aspergillosis occurring in a young healthy individual with no evidence of prior lung pathology. Furthermore, the source of infection was traced back to a very unusual possible focus – a decayed tooth infected with A. fumigatus, thus making the case even more interesting.