Hypertensive crisis, catecholamine cardiomyopathy, and death associated with pseudoephedrine use in a patient with pheochromocytoma.

Objective: To describe a woman with a previously unrecognized pheochromocytoma who died after ingesting over-the-counter pseudoephedrine-containing medications.

Methods: We present a case report including laboratory, radiographic, and pathologic findings in a patient with a previously unrecognized pheochromocytoma.

Results: A 31-year-old woman had symptoms consistent with intermittent, excessive release of catecholamines since childhood.

Gastric toxoplasmosis in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. A case report and review of the literature.

Toxoplasmosis is a common opportunistic pathogen in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It usually presents with ocular, central nervous system, or pulmonary disease. Gastric toxoplasmosis is uncommon in AIDS patients, especially in the absence of central nervous system manifestations.

Acanthamoeba infection presenting as skin lesions in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Acanthamoeba organisms are a well-known, although rare, cause of central nervous system infection in immunodeficient hosts, including those with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Extracerebral acanthamebiasis, with the exception of contact lens-associated keratitis, is reported but little emphasized in the literature. We describe two patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in whom skin lesions were the primary manifestations of Acanthamoeba infection.

Clinical characteristics of seven cases of diarrhea associated with a novel acid-fast organism in the stool.

In the last 4 years, we have identified an acid-fast, autofluorescent organism in the stool of seven patients with diarrhea. The organism was identified as a cyanobacterium-like organism by the Centers for Disease Control (Atlanta) and as a coccidian by researchers in Peru and at the University of Arizona (Tucson). We present reports on the seven cases and a review of the literature.

Bronchoscopy specimens in adults with AIDS. Comparative yields of cytology, histology and culture for diagnosis of infectious agents.

Bronchoscopy specimens from 183 known/suspected acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients were evaluated for pathogens. In each case, transbronchial biopsies were evaluated and bronchoalveolar lavage material was cultured for viruses, fungi and mycobacteria and examined cytologically. A specimen was considered positive for a pathogen if detected by any one of the methods (TBB or BALC or culture).