Noninvasive Ventilation-assisted Bronchoscopy in High-risk Hypoxemic Patients.

Background And Aims: Hypoxemic patients undergoing fiber-optic bronchoscopy (FOB) are at risk of worsening of respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation due to FOB procedure itself and its complications. As patients with respiratory failure are frequently managed by non-invasive ventilation (NIV); feasibility of FOB through NIV mask has been evaluated in some studies to avoid intubation. We describe here our own case series.

Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis in an infant.

Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis is rare but fatal disease encountered in immunocompetent individuals. Here, we present a case of a previously healthy 8-month-old female child, who presented with features of meningoencephalitis of 2 days' duration. Rapidly moving trophozoites of amoeba were observed in cerebrospinal fluid, which were confirmed to be Naegleria fowleri on polymerase chain reaction.

Cerebral Phaeohyphomycosis with Onychomycosis: Case Report and Review of Literature.

The term phaeohyphomycosis (PHM) means dark-pigmented fungal hyphae. Cerebral PHM (CPHM) with onychomycosis is extremely rare; very few have been reported so far. The authors report a case of CPHM with onychomycosis in a 37-year-old male from a rural background in Haryana, India, with involvement of the left frontal lobe.

Rasmussen's aneurysm: A rare and forgotten cause of hemoptysis.

Hemoptysis as a sequelae of past tubercular infection of lungs is a known occurrence. Hemoptysis in such a patient can result from a number of etiologies like tubercular reactivation, bronchiectasis, aspergiloma and vascular complications like hypervascularity from bronchial arteries, arteriovenous fistula formation, pseudoaneurysms, etc. Massive hemoptysis in such a patient is usually treated by bronchial artery embolization and occasionally by surgical lobectomy.

Fatal meningitis by Cryptococcus laurentii in a post-partum woman: A manifestation of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome.

Cryptococcal meningitis in immunocompetent post-partum women has been rarely reported. Immune restoration during post-partum period leads to unmasking of many opportunistic infections that may have been acquired during pregnancy but manifest itself in the post-partum period due to immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. This case highlights the importance of considering opportunistic pathogens in immunocompetent patients who may be undergoing immune restoration.