Subject(s)
Albinism, Oculocutaneous/diagnosis , Dyspnea/diagnosis , Hispanic or Latino , Adult , Albinism, Oculocutaneous/ethnology , Biopsy , Bronchi/pathology , Bronchoscopy , Diagnosis, Differential , Dyspnea/ethnology , Humans , Lung/diagnostic imaging , Male , Puerto Rico/ethnology , RadiographyABSTRACT
C albidus and mucormycosis were cultured simultaneously from the pleural space of a patient with end-stage renal disease receiving long-term hemodialysis. There have been only nine previous reports of infection with C albidus, with only one involving the lung. This organism has never before been isolated from the pleural space, and none of the previously reported cases included a coinfection with mucormycosis. We have reviewed and compared all known cases of infection with C albidus.
Subject(s)
Cryptococcosis/complications , Cryptococcus/isolation & purification , Empyema, Pleural/complications , Kidney Failure, Chronic/complications , Mucormycosis/complications , Adult , Aged , Amphotericin B/therapeutic use , Cryptococcosis/drug therapy , Cryptococcosis/physiopathology , Empyema, Pleural/drug therapy , Empyema, Pleural/physiopathology , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Mucormycosis/drug therapy , Mucormycosis/physiopathology , Renal DialysisABSTRACT
Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency is a genetic disorder that may result in premature pulmonary emphysema. Affected persons are deficient in the protective protein, alpha 1-proteinase inhibitor (alpha 1-PI). The diagnosis should be considered in patients with signs of emphysema by age 40 (especially nonsmokers), those with predominantly lower lobe disease and those with a family history of premature emphysema. Recently, human alpha 1-PI has been purified and is available to prevent the development of disabling emphysema in affected individuals. Weekly infusion of the concentrate is effective in raising serum levels and is very safe, with only rare minor adverse effects.
