1/3. pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital.pneumocystis carinii is recognized as one of the leading causes of death in AIDS patients in developed countries but its role in this regard in developing countries appears to be less prominent. Sub-Saharan African countries, in spite of their high hiv prevalence, have hardly recorded any cases. We report the first microbiologically proven case of PCP in an adult patient at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital. A 37 year old African woman was referred to Ga-Rankuwa Hospital from the local clinic for chest infection with a non productive cough that had not responded to conventional treatment. On admission, she was febrile, emaciated and in respiratory distress with oral thrush. Chest radiography showed diffuse bilateral infiltrations and a preliminary diagnosis of atypical pneumonia and tuberculosis was made. The patient was begun on penicillin, gentamicin, contrimoxazole and anti-tuberculosis therapy. Laboratory investigations revealed a low haemoglobin, positive hiv test (after counselling) and pneumocystis carinii trophozoites and cytes in the bronchoalveolar larvage specimen. In spite of appropriate treatment the patient died within three days. One wonders whether the outcome for this middle aged woman with advanced hiv infection would have been different had appropriate cotrimoxazole therapy been administered at the primary health care centre. It must be noted that PCP may no longer be a rare disease in sub-Saharan countries and intensive investigations should be carried out to avoid losing patients with treatable infectious diseases.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = rare disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/3. Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma presenting with respiratory symptoms.Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma is a rare disease associated with mild, nonspecific abdominal symptoms and a wide spectrum of imaging findings, with thickened mesentery and peritoneum being the most common ones. A case of a malignant peritoneal mesothelioma presenting with manifestations of pulmonary disease is reported. Imaging evaluation revealed pleural, lung and pericardial involvement together with retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy, little ascites and extensive omental, but only subtle, mesenteric thickening.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = rare disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/3. Diffuse pulmonary lymphangiomatosis: imaging findings.Diffuse pulmonary lymphangiomatosis is a rare pulmonary disorder affecting the lymphatic channels from the mediastinum to the pleura. The disease usually occurs in children and young adults and frequently ends with death due to progressive course. Imaging findings of the disease are based on lymphatic involvement which appear as mediastinal soft tissue infiltration and thickening of pulmonary peribroncovascular bundles and interlobular septae. In this report, spiral and high-resolution computed tomography, and ultrasonography findings of severe form of this rare disease are presented. Furthermore, some lymphatic disorders, which are called with similar name but different appearances on imaging, are discussed.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = rare disease (Clic here for more details about this article) |