1/286. Radiologic differential diagnosis. Radiologic pattern: solitary cavity. The differential diagnosis of a left lower lobe cavity in this young patient with a history of productive cough should include hiatal hernia, pulmonary abscess, bronchiectatic cyst and bronchopulmonary sequestration. Hiatal hernia should be ruled out by barium swallow; acute pulmonary abscess by the lack of a history suggestive of a necrotizing pneumonia; bronchiectasis by bronchogram; and intralobar bronchopulmonary sequestration should be confirmed by aortography. ( info) |
2/286. Pulmonary rhizopus rhizopodiformis cavitary abscess in a cardiac allograft recipient. Pulmonary mucormycosis is rare in solid organ transplant recipients. Only one case has been reported previously in a cardiac allograft recipient. However, the rhizopus species in that study was not identified. We report a case of successful surgical treatment of pulmonary cavitary mucormycosis due to rhizopus rhizopodiformis in a cardiac allograft transplant recipient. A review of the literature on pulmonary mucormycosis occurring in solid organ transplant recipients is also presented. ( info) |
3/286. Lemierre's syndrome. Postanginal sepsis, or Lemierre's syndrome, is rare but with life-threatening potential involving mainly infants and adolescents. The morbidity or mortality is caused mainly by lack of knowledge of the syndrome. The 18-year-old boy described here developed a jugular thrombosis 7 days after an angina. fusobacterium necrophorum was isolated from the culture of the excised jugular vein. Secondary embolism involved the lungs, associated with an iliac osteomyelitis and sacroiliitis. Computed tomography was used for diagnosis and follow-up. ( info) |
4/286. Necrotizing pneumococcal pneumonia in childhood. We describe the rare complication of necrotizing pneumonia and invasive pneumococcal infection in 3 previously healthy pediatric patients. Lobar consolidation and pleural effusions appeared initially, followed within several days by the appearance of multiple small lucencies in the area of consolidation. In one case, necrosis progressed to a large abscess cavity. Surgical intervention was limited to treatment of pleural space complications. There were no deaths. Pulmonary parenchymal residual was limited to a thin-walled cavity in one case. ( info) |
5/286. Multilobar consolidation with abscess formation caused by legionella pneumophila: an unusual chest radiographic presentation. A 52-year-old male had fever, pleuritic chest pain, cough with purulent sputum and hemoptysis for 4 days. The patient had underlying alcoholic cardiomyopathy, cirrhosis of the liver, chronic obstructive lung disease and underwent corticosteroids therapy. Chest radiograph showed round opacities bilaterally. legionella pneumophila serogroup 5 was identified by direct fluorescent antibody staining and culture from the sputum. Despite intravenous erythromycin and rifampin therapy, he died on the 7th hospital day. The autopsy showed bilateral pulmonary consolidation with abscess formation. legionnaires' disease should be included in the differential diagnosis if an immunosuppressed patient presents with multilobar opacities on chest radiograph. Specific tests for legionnaires' disease should be performed. ( info) |
| A 17-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis (forced expiratory volume in 1 sec, 36% and 14% of predicted values, respectively) developed severe right-sided lung infections with abscess formations and complete atelectases unresponsive to medical therapy. In both patients, unilateral emergency pneumonectomy resulted in rapid clinical improvement. Despite her severe underlying lung disease, the girl experienced a remarkable increase in quality of life; 2 years after surgery, she died from respiratory failure. The male patient has now survived for 4 years, and lung transplantation still remains a therapeutic option for him. We believe that pneumonectomy is a valuable rescue therapy for patients with cystic fibrosis and intractable unilateral lung infections who are at high risk of dying while waiting for lung transplantation. ( info) |
7/286. Nephrobronchial fistula secondary to xantogranulomatous pyelonephritis. We report a case of staghorn nephrolithiasis that evolved into xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis with perinephric abscess, nephrobronchial fistula, and lung abscess. The patient was an intravenous drug abuser who tested positive for human immunodeficiency virus, without evidence of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. He presented with a 2-month history of untreated repeated episodes of left flank pain and hyperpyrexia. Treatment involved left nephrectomy, debridement of abscess, tube drainage, and intravenous antibiotics. The patient illustrates the need to consider untreated nephrolitiasis as a predisposing factor for pulmonary complications. ( info) |
8/286. Video-assisted thoracoscopic esophagomyotomy for achalasia after pulmonary lobectomy. A 52-year-old man developed achalasia and a lung abscess due to aspiration pneumonia. We conducted a right upper lobectomy by thoracotomy for the abscess and, 2 weeks later, video-assisted thoracoscopic myotomy and fundoplication (modified Belsey Mark IV procedure) though the left thorax for achalasia. Three months after surgery, the patient was free of dysphasia and chest pain and had regained his original weight. Esophageal myotomy and fundoplication using video-assisted thoracoscopy appear to be feasible in treating achalasia involving impaired pulmonary function. ( info) |
9/286. Retained intrathoracic surgical swab: CT appearances. A retained surgical swab (gossypiboma) is a rare but important complication of intrathoracic surgery. The radiographic and computed tomography (CT) appearances are variable and depend on the chronicity and site of the swab within the chest. Two cases of retained swabs within the chest are reported. In both cases, the swab had become surrounded by lung. The swab within the pleural space acted as a nidus and resulted in infolding of the lung, superficially resembling an intrapulmonary abscess on CT. ( info) |
10/286. Subacute primary Candida lung abscess. A case of primary subacute Candida lung abscess is described. The most reliable way to diagnose a rare pulmonary disease is to perform an open lung biopsy. A review of the literature suggests that the diagnosis of a primary subacute abscess due to candida albicans in vivo is unique. ( info) |