Skeletal coccidioidomycosis: an atypical pediatric presentation
Lane H McCoy, John S A Chrisinger, Benjamin E Northrup, Jonathan C Baker · 2026
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Description
Lane H McCoy, with three colleagues, reports a 2026 case of a fungal bone infection in a child that looked like cancer. Coccidioidomycosis is a lung infection from a soil fungus of dry regions, and spread beyond the lung strikes under one percent of cases. Bone spread in children is rarer still.
The patient was a healthy 12-year-old with six weeks of growing pain in the left pelvis, night sweats, and weight loss, with no lung complaints. Scans showed a bone-eating lesion in the pelvis with a soft tissue mass, a picture that raised cancer fears. A biopsy instead found fungal forms with a giant cell reaction, and culture confirmed Coccidioides. Strong antifungal drugs, first by vein then by mouth, cleared the pain. At six months the child was fully active with pelvic function intact. The authors urge the fungus onto the suspect list.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Lane H McCoy, John S A Chrisinger, Benjamin E Northrup, Jonathan C Baker |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 16 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |