ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Pulmonary sporotrichosis is a rare event. Sporothrix schenckii is a dimorphic fungus and develops at 37 degrees C in yeast form. Usually hyphae are not observed in tissues, although their presence has been occasionally demonstrated in biopsies. CASE: A 37-year-old man, human immunodeficiency virus-1 positive, with a CD4 cell count of 345/mm3, developed a productive cough. A sputum smear revealed the presence of a large amount of long, thin, septated micelia. The hyphae bore oval, sessile conidia. Cultures of sputum yielded numerous colonies of S schenckii. CONCLUSION: This is the first report of hyphae of S schenckii in sputum. This case emphasizes the possibilities of cytology for the diagnosis of mycotic infections. Fungi have typical morphologies, and it is possible, on the basis of microscopic evidence, to suspect the nature of the infection early and thus to direct culture procedures.
Subject(s)
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/diagnosis , Pneumonia/microbiology , Sporothrix/isolation & purification , Sporotrichosis/diagnosis , AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/pathology , Adult , Cytological Techniques , Humans , Male , Pneumonia/diagnosis , Sporotrichosis/pathologyABSTRACT
Lithium (Li) has been shown to increase the platelet number after chemotherapy. The present paper suggests that Li may increase the platelet aggregation induced by sub-optimal concentrations of ADP. Conversely, rubidium does not modify platelet aggregation in the present experiments.
Subject(s)
Lithium/pharmacology , Platelet Aggregation/drug effects , Rubidium/pharmacology , Adenosine Diphosphate/pharmacology , Humans , Kinetics , Time FactorsABSTRACT
It has recently been shown that the automated H-6000 cell counter is unable to correctly process blood samples containing hemoglobin C. In this paper, we report that formalin is responsible for the failure of red blood cell lysis in the H-6000.
