A 44-year-old woman with pulmonary infiltrates, respiratory failure, and pancytopenia

Article Abstract:

A 44-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with fluid in her lungs, difficulty breathing, and low levels of all types of blood cells. She had a low blood pressure and fever, did not respond to various antibiotics, and required ventilation. An x-ray indicated confluent air-space disease in both of her lungs. Initial analysis of her blood, urine, and lung fluid did not reveal any bacteria or fungi. She was born in Haiti, had visited there frequently, and had a sister who worked in a Haitian tuberculosis clinic. She underwent a bone marrow biopsy and received antituberculosis drugs. She died on her second day in the hospital. An autopsy revealed mycobacteria in the lungs, granulomas in the bone marrow, and infected nodes in the liver, spleen, and adrenal glands. The patient had pulmonary tuberculosis, miliary tuberculosis in various organs, and Kaposi's sarcoma of the small intestine.

Tuberculosis

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A 36-year-old man with AIDS and respiratory failure

Article Abstract:

A 36-year-old man with AIDS died from complications of Kaposi's sarcoma and Pneumocystic carinii pneumonia. The patient was admitted to the hospital with a cough, shortness of breath, confusion and an intermittent low-grade fever. He had been diagnosed with HIV infection approximately 2 1/2 years before admission to the hospital. He was homosexual and his partner was also HIV-positive. He had previously developed a respiratory infection caused by cytomegalovirus and P. carinii pneumonia. He was treated with several drugs in the hospital and was put on assisted ventilation. The patient died during his fifth day in the hospital after his blood pressure dropped and his heart beat became abnormal. An autopsy revealed that he had Kaposi's sarcoma of the skin and lining of the mouth that had spread to the lungs as well as P. carinii pneumonia.

Causes of, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, Respiratory insufficiency

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A 19-year-old man with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and persistent fever

Article Abstract:

A 19-year-old man infected with HIV was admitted to a hospital with fever, chills, cough, weight loss and pneumonia. He had emigrated to the US from Honduras, where he had been a farmer. Because of his severe immunodeficiency, his doctors suspected histoplasmosis, a fungal infection which is common in Central America. This was confirmed by blood and urine tests. He was treated with the antifungal drug amphotericin B followed by itraconazole.

Histoplasmosis

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