Scedosporium

Question

We just discovered my 12 years old CF son had Scedosporium. His FEV1 went down to 80%. Is there a treatment against this fungus to help recover his FEV1, that was always 100%? I am worried.

Answer

Dear Madam,
the pathogenic role of Scedosporium in the course of the cystic fibrosis lung disease is not well understood. Similarly to others filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus fumigatus, Scedosporium can colonize the airways without being clearly responsible for clinical deterioration or decrease of lung function as it is the case for your child. There is no consensus on whether a specific treatment (antifungal medication) is needed in those particular cases. In that way, several other things need to be checked at clinical, biological and radiological levels. The nature of the other germs regularly found out in the sputum, the clinical response to targeted antibiotic should also be carefully evaluated. In cases where no other current explanation could be found, antifungal treatment should be discussed.
Sincerely,
Dr Philippe Reix

15.11.2012