Maria Ilaria Del Principe et al.
Geotrichum (G.), now defined as Saprochaete, is an arthroconidial yeast-like filamentous fungus that caused recent outbreaks in patients affected by hematologic malignancies (HM) patients. Little is known about this fungus, in HM patients, regarding the epidemiology, source of outbreaks, risk factors, treatment, and outcomes. The aim of our retrospective, observational study was to evaluate the incidence of this infection in HM patients in the last decade and to assess the current mortality attributable (AMR) to G. All data regarding clinical characteristic, underlying HM treatment, antifungal prophylaxis/treatment, antifungal treatments, outcome of infection and mortality for each case were collected in file Excel. Currently, a total of 79 G. infections were recorded (58 G. capitatum and 21 G. Clavatum infections, respectively). Forty-five (57%) patients were affected by acute myeloid leukemia. No significant differences were observed between G. capitatum and G. clavatum infections in terms of gender, HM, clinical pictures and efficacy of antifungal therapy. The AMR was very high and equal to 56%. In conclusion, our preliminary data demonstrated that infection of G. spp may present as primary or as breakthrough fungemia and that the treatment is still a challenge.