Pathological diagnosis of a rare intestinal penicillium marneffei infection in an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patient: a case report and literature review

Penicillium marneffei infection is a common opportunistic infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, but intestinal penicilliosis marneffei has rarely been reported. In this report, we presented a rare case of an HIV-infected Chinese patient with intestinal penicilliosis marneffei, who was characterized by an insidious onset, initial symptoms with a mild pain in the lower left abdomen, and negative results of repetitive fungal culture. The histological findings of colonic biopsy (non-budding yeast cells with central transverse septum and extracellular elongated or sausage-shaped cells) gave a clue to the correct diagnosis and guided effective clinical therapy. In addition to the above analysis, the various clinical manifestations and outcomes of intestinal penicilliosis in the literatures are also summarized.