RESUMO
Penicillium marneffei may cause life-threatening systemic fungal infection in immune-compromised patients and it is endemic in Southeast Asia. A 39-yr-old HIV-infected male, living in Laos, presented with fever, cough, and facial vesiculopapular lesions, which had been apparent for two weeks. CT scans showed bilateral micronodules on both lungs; Pneumocystis jirovecii was identified by bronchoscopic biopsy. Despite trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and anti-tuberculosis medications, the lung lesions progressed and the facial lesions revealed central umbilications. Biopsy of the skin lesions confirmed disseminated penicilliosis, with the culture showing P. marneffei hyphae and spores. The P. marneffei was identified by rRNA PCR. A review of the bronchoscopic biopsy indicated penicilliosis. The patient completely recovered after being prescribed amphotericin-B and receiving antiretroviral therapy. This is the first case of penicilliosis in a Korean HIV-infected patient. It is necessary to consider P. marneffei when immunocompromised patients, with a history of visits to endemic areas, reveal respiratory disease.
Assuntos
Infecções por HIV/diagnóstico , Pneumopatias/microbiologia , Penicillium/isolamento & purificação , Adulto , Anfotericina B/uso terapêutico , Fármacos Anti-HIV/uso terapêutico , Antifúngicos/uso terapêutico , Broncoscopia , Dermatomicoses/tratamento farmacológico , Dermatomicoses/microbiologia , Dermatomicoses/patologia , Infecções por HIV/tratamento farmacológico , Humanos , Hospedeiro Imunocomprometido , Laos , Pneumopatias/tratamento farmacológico , Masculino , Penicillium/genética , Pneumocystis carinii/isolamento & purificação , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios XRESUMO
Many studies on the effects of acupuncture on brain activity have been concerned with the stimulation of specific acu-points. However, research on brain activity with the stimulation of the body-meridian line is still quite novel. The hypothesis of the present study is that heart meridian stimulations with different directions of line-magnet poles would elicit different effects on EEG activity. Twenty-three healthy young adults between the age of 19 and 22 years old participated in the experiment. Two tiny NEO line-magnets were applied to stimulate the heart meridian. EEG activities were changed significantly between different treatments on the heart meridian using line-magnet with different directions of magnetic poles (p<0.05). The present study shows that the stimulation of the heart meridian with the line-magnets has an effect on brain activity associated with the direction of the line-magnet pole.
