A 9 year- old male castrated domestic short haired cat presented with a nodular lesion on his nose as well as a 2-month history of sneezing. The cat had been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM) and hyperadrenocorticism 2 years prior. Initial fine needle aspirate (FNA) and cytology was compatible with an abscess. After local drainage and antibiotic therapy, the abscess recurred twice. Computerized tomography (CT) of the skull and chest showed severe frontal rhinosinusitis, nasal and frontal bone lysis, and the presence of a cavitary lesion dorsolateral to the right maxilla and connected to the right nasal cavity. Trepanation of the frontal sinus revealed large amounts of purulent material as well as fungal plaques. Cytology, biopsy and culture results of the mass were compatible with sino-nasal aspergillosis (SNA) associated with A.niger.
Following surgical debridement, two local treatments with clotrimazole cream 1% and oral itraconazole for 4 months, there was complete resolution of the clinical signs.
DM, a known risk factor for developing aspergillosis in humans, is probably a risk factor for feline respiratory aspergillosis. In this case, the presence of concurrent DM, and possibly hyperadrenocorticism, may have predisposed the cats to this infection. SNA should be considered as a differential diagnosis in cats with symptoms of chronic rhinitis and in animals with facial abscesses, especially when the CT image shows severe bone lysis. The presence of other systemic diseases does not necessarily alter the good prognosis.