Pulmonary Cryptococcosis in a Nurse Initially Suspected of Having Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND Pulmonary cryptococcosis can be associated with various imaging findings and can occur in immunocompetent hosts. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish pulmonary cryptococcosis from pulmonary tuberculosis based on imaging findings. CASE REPORT A 34-year-old female nurse who worked in an endoscopy examination room visited our hospital because of an abnormal lung shadow.

A Fatal Case of Atypical Disseminated Herpes Zoster in a Patient with Meningoencephalitis and Seizures Associated with Steroid Immunosuppression.

BACKGROUND Herpes zoster is caused by the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus (VZV) and usually presents with vesicular skin lesions with a dermatomal distribution. Disseminated herpes zoster (DHZ) infection is characterized by non-dermatomal skin eruptions, often with involvement of other organs, and occurs in immunocompromised patients. CASE REPORT A 69-year-old man who was treated with prednisolone for amiodarone-associated interstitial lung disease, presented with seizures and altered consciousness.

Lung Mycobacterium avium developed after removing an acupuncture needle from the lung.

Acupuncture needles can cause non-tuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM) infection on the skin, but there are no reports that acupuncture needles inserted into the lung have caused lung NTM infection. A 63-year-old woman, who underwent removal of a broken acupuncture needle inserted into the lung nine years ago, was admitted with nodules in the right lung. The shadow was positioned where the needle had existed.

[Paragonimiasis Westermani associated with pseudochylothorax].

A 67-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of right pleural effusion. She had eaten boiled crab, Eriocheir japonicus, raw crab of an unknown species, and broiled wild boar several years ago. The punctured pleural fluid was characterized by an exudative nature, milky-white color, and high cholesterol concentration, indicating pseudochylothorax.

[A case of rapidly progressive interstitial pneumonia with anti-pL-12-antibodies successfully treated by pulse methylprednisolone and cyclophosphamide].

A 51-year old man with severe acute respiratory failure was referred to our hospital. He presented with cyanotic digits, high fever and dyspnea. The chest radiograph and chest CT scan showed diffuse ground-glass-opacities and reticular shadows in both lung fields.

Elevated plasma brain natriuretic peptide level in cardiac sarcoidosis patients with preserved ejection fraction.

We sought to examine whether the plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are elevated in the cardiac sarcoidosis patients even with a preserved ejection fraction. The data from the patients with either pulmonary sarcoidosis without any evidence of cardiac involvement (n = 13) or cardiac sarcoidosis (n = 8) with a preserved ejection fraction (>55%) on echocardiography were analyzed. The median plasma BNP levels were significantly higher in the patients with cardiac sarcoidosis than in those with pulmonary sarcoidosis (101.