Primary invasive aspergillosis with disseminated intravascular coagulation as a presenting feature of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a life-threatening infection. IA is usually seen in severely immunocompromised patients. However, IA as a presenting feature of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is rare. The patient we describe had no signs or symptoms of lymphoma prior to hospital admission. A. fumigatus was isolated from respiratory tract specimens on the day of admission and fungal elements were detected on autopsy. Isolation of Aspergillus in patients with severe sepsis should trigger a search haematological malignancy.