Date: 21 January 2014
The chest is distorted by a deformity of the back and ribs.
Copyright: n/a
Notes:
This patient’s X-ray is complex. The chest is distorted by a deformity of the back and ribs. Substantial metalwork following a spinal fusion is in place to support the vertebral column and part of this overlies the heart and part of it crosses the left lung. The patient also has a portacath device in-situ over the right lung, which allows i.v. antibiotics to be given. A needle is in-situ inside the portacath device. An external drainage tube is currently in-situ in a large air cavity and left upper thorax. This cavity contains mostly air but there is some fluid with the fluid level at its base. Underneath this large pyopneumothorax is a normal component of left lower lobe. The heart is very substantially moved to the right of the lung because of a previous right lower lobe resection. There is no evidence of aspergillosis on this x-ray as it stands.
Images library
-
Title
Legend
-
Images and abstract taken from Mert D et.al., Hematol Rep. 2017 Jun 1;9(2):6997. doi: 10.4081/hr.2017.6997. Invasive Aspergillosis with Disseminated Skin Involvement in a Patient with Acute Myeloid Leukemia: A Rare Case.
Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is most commonly seen in immunocompromised patients. Besides, skin lesions may also develop due to invasive aspergillosis in those patients. A 49-year-old male patient was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
The patient developed bullous and zosteriform lesions on the skin after the 21st day of hospitalization. The skin biopsy showed hyphae. Disseminated skin aspergillosis was diagnosed to the patient.
Voricanazole treatment was initiated. The patient was discharged once the lesions started to disappear.
, , , ,
-
A pile of woodchip stored for use in a garden usually as a weed suppressing mulch. The heat building up in the pile is illustrated by the plumes of steam eminating from the top of the pile.
Aspergillus fumigatus is particularly well adapted to grow in the heat (up to 60C) found in such piles of rotting organic material and this characteristic, an adaption for its life in its natural environment also enables it to survive and grow in warm mammalian bodies at 37C. Most fungi cannot grow or survive at those temperatures
, , ,
-
MK is 59 years old and presented with right sided pleuritic chest pain and coughing over 1 week. A chest Xray and then CT scan revealed complete collapse of her right lower lobe and middle lobes. Mucous retention is seen just proximal to the abrupt cutoff. There was mild bronchiectasis.
,