Medical student Andrew Kao is an aspiring Internal Medicine physician who found himself closely following the case of a 63-year-old man with a history of blood cancer who contracted a rare fungal infection after an intravenous haemopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Kao, who is in his fourth and final year of medical school at the Wayne State University School of Medicine, encountered the patient case while on clinical rotation in the Harper University Hospital’s Medical Intensive Care Unit.

Fusarium species is a fungal organism that manifests as an opportunistic infection and exhibits intrinsic resistance to most antifungals, Kao said.

The patient first presented with endophthalmitis. The disease progressed to encephalopathy, and with autopsy showed a green abscess in the sphenoidal bone growing Fusarium mold, Kao added.

“As an aspiring Internal Medicine physician, I was fascinated with the complexity of the clinical presentation and subsequent management of the systemic dissemination, as treatment of Fusarium species is still under investigation,” he said. “On a personal level, I find myself gravitating toward the multi-faceted nature of inpatient medicine, long-term anticipation and collective decision-making processes with several consultants to optimize patient care.”

Kao worked with Professor of Internal Medicine Ayman Soubani, M.D., who serves as medical director of Medical ICUs for the DMC’s Adult Central Campus; and Pulmonary/Critical Care Fellow Cassondra Cramer-Bour, M.D., to write and publish a patient case study.

“Andrew is an outstanding example of our medical students who are fulfilling the mission of the Wayne State University School of Medicine of combining excellence in clinical education and scholarship,” Dr. Soubani said.

The report, “Endophthalmitis as the initial manifestation of invasive fusariosis in an allogeneic stem cell transplant patient: A case report,” was published in Medical Mycology of Case Reports last month.

“He experienced the whole process of reviewing the literature, identifying the unique features of this case, collecting more information about the patient from other departments at the hospital, writing the manuscript, and working meticulously on revisions until the manuscript was accepted and published,” Dr. Soubani said.

The case was accepted for presentation at the Society of Critical Care Medicine International Conference, held Jan. 21-24 in San Francisco, where Kao gave an oral presentation.

“The opportunity to represent the WSU School of Medicine and present this case on a podium was a unique, gratifying experience. Preparation not only included multiple rounds of presentation rehearsal, but also extensive literature research with the goal to foster intellectual discussions among residents and faculties with far more expertise in the field,” Kao said. “The conference was a humbling, invaluable experience to network and develop further insights into critical care medicine by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

Kao is especially grateful to Dr. Soubani, Dr. Cramer-Bour and Department of Pathology Professor William Kupsky, M.D., for their guidance and mentorship.