Progressive pulmonary air-space disease in a 71-year-old man with emphysema

Article Abstract:

A 71-year-old man with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was diagnosed with cryptogenic organizing pneumonia. This form of pneumonia, in which fibrous tissue forms in the lungs, has no apparent cause. Symptoms include severe difficulty breathing, coughing, and weight loss. The patient had smoked three packs of cigarettes a day for 20 years and was immunocompromised from taking steroids for his chronic lung disease. X-rays revealed progressive consolidation of material in the air spaces of the patient's left lung, and thick green secretions were drained from there. A tuberculosis test was negative. Other tests for infectious agents such as mycobacteria, fungal agents and herpesvirus were not conclusive, and the patient's failure to respond to treatment suggests his illness was noninfectious. A tissue sample from the lung indicated organizing pneumonia, and the patient's anorexia, cough and difficulty breathing support this diagnosis.

Cases, Complications and side effects, Lung diseases, Obstructive, Chronic obstructive lung disease, Pneumonia

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A 35-year-old man with dilated cardiomyopathy, repeated ventricular tachycardia, and pulmonary lesions

Article Abstract:

A 35-year-old man was diagnosed with sarcoidosis affecting his lungs and heart. He had been previously diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy of unknown cause and a type of heart arrhythmia called ventricular tachycardia. Seven months after this diagnosis, he was admitted to a hospital for ventricular tachycardia that did not respond to drugs or an implanted defibrillator. X-rays and a CT scan of the chest revealed nodules in his lungs, especially the right upper lobe. An echocardiogram revealed that his right ventricle was not functioning normally. Microscopic examination of tissue from a lung and heart biopsy indicated that he had sarcoidosis, which was affecting his heart as well as his lungs. Sarcoidosis is a multi-organ disease characterized by clusters of cells called granulomas. This patient was treated with immunosuppressive drugs, which eliminated his arrhythmia and reduced his lung disease.

Case studies, Ventricular tachycardia, Sarcoidosis

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A 69-year-old man with exposure to talc and a pulmonary mass

Article Abstract:

A 69-year-old man was admitted to a hospital because doctors saw lumps in his lungs on a chest X-ray. He also had cough, fever, and shortness of breath. He had worked in a rubber plant for 28 years, which involved long-term exposure to talc. In the rubber industry, talc is used to dust the rubber to lubricate it. A needle biopsy of a mass in his right upper lung indicated that he had cancer. Further examination of a mass removed during surgery revealed talc particles in the mass. He was diagnosed with pulmonary talcosis, a lung disease caused by talc.

Health aspects, Causes of, Lung diseases, Talc

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