Eosinophilic pneumonia caused by Aspergillus niger: is oral cleansing with amphotericin B efficacious in preventing relapse of allergic pneumonitis?

Drug-Induced Acute Eosinophilic Pneumonia With Pneumomediastinum: An Unusual Presentation

A 27-year-old female, with no significant past medical history, presented to the casualty department with a two-week history of progressive dyspnea, cough, and fever. She reported that she had recently started taking a non-conventional alternative medication for her irregular menstrual cycles. Chest radiography demonstrated bilateral alveolar opacities, and computed tomography (CT) of the chest revealed bilateral ground-glass opacities and pneumomediastinum. Laboratory testing showed peripheral blood eosinophilia, and bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage confirmed an elevated eosinophil count. Based on the clinical presentation, radiographic and laboratory findings, and exclusion of other etiologies, a diagnosis of drug-induced eosinophilic lung disease with pneumomediastinum was made. The alternative non-conventional drug was immediately discontinued and the patient was treated with systemic corticosteroids, leading to a rapid improvement in her symptoms and radiographic abnormalities. A repeat CT of the chest after 15 days revealed significant resolution of the ground-glass opacities and complete resolution of pneumomediastinum. This case highlights the importance of thorough medication history and vigilance for potential adverse effects of non-conventional treatments.

Acute Eosinophilic Pneumonia. Causes, Diagnosis, and Management

Acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) is an uncommon acute respiratory illness of varying severity that includes presentation as acute respiratory distress syndrome with fatal outcome. AEP may be idiopathic, but identifiable causes include smoking and other inhalational exposures, medications, and infections. The pathogenesis of AEP is poorly understood but likely varies depending on the underlying cause. Airway epithelial injury, endothelial injury, and release of IL-33 are early events that subsequently promote eosinophil recruitment to the lung; eosinophilic infiltration and degranulation appear to mediate subsequent lung inflammation and associated clinical manifestations. Crucial for the diagnosis are the demonstration of pulmonary eosinophilia in the BAL fluid and the exclusion of other disease processes that can present with acute pulmonary infiltrates. Although peripheral blood eosinophilia at initial presentation may be a clue in suggesting the diagnosis of AEP, it may be absent or delayed, especially in smoking-related AEP. Optimal management of AEP depends on the recognition and elimination of the underlying cause when identifiable. The cessation of the exposure to the inciting agent (e.g., smoking), and glucocorticoids represent the mainstay of treating AEP of noninfectious origin. If AEP is recognized and treated in a timely manner, the prognosis is generally excellent, with prompt and complete clinical recovery, even in those patients manifesting acute respiratory failure.

Atopic cough and fungal allergy

We have shown that some patients presenting with chronic bronchodilator-resistant non-productive cough have a global atopic tendency and cough hypersensitivity without nonspecific bronchial hyperresponsiveness, abbreviated as atopic cough (AC). The cough can be treated successfully with histamine H1 antagonists and/or glucocorticoids. Eosinophilic tracheobronchitis and cough hypersensitivity are pathological and physiological characteristics of AC. Fungus-associated chronic cough (FACC) is defined as chronic cough associated with basidiomycetous (BM) fungi found in induced sputum, and recognition of FACC has provided the possibility of using antifungal drugs as new treatment strategies. Bjerkandera adusta is a wood decay BM fungus, which has attracted attention because of its potential role in enhancing the severity of cough symptoms in FACC patients by sensitization to this fungus. Before making a diagnosis of "idiopathic cough" in cases of chronic refractory cough, remaining intractable cough-related laryngeal sensations, such as "a sensation of mucus in the throat (SMIT)," which is correlated with fungal colonization, should be evaluated and treated appropriately in each patient. The new findings, i.e., the detection of environmental mushroom spores that should not be present in the human airways in addition to the good clinical response of patients to antifungal drugs, may lead to the development of novel strategies for treatment of chronic cough.

Fungus-associated asthma: overcoming challenges in diagnosis and treatment

With regard to fungal colonization and fungal sensitization, the goals of fungus-associated asthma management are as follows: 1) to survey fungi colonizing the airways of patients repeatedly; 2) to evaluate the tendency of the colonizing fungi to sensitize patients and the influence on clinical manifestations of asthma; 3) to follow disease development to allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis or sinobronchial allergic mycosis; and 4) to determine whether fungal eradication from the airway of patients is beneficial from the viewpoints of future risk factors. Recent developments in molecular biological analyses have facilitated the identification of basidiomycetous fungi that were not previously thought to be of concern in fungal allergy. The total control of fungus-associated asthma will be accomplished by environmental management established from the viewpoint of both the ecology and life cycle of the responsible fungi.

The definitive diagnostic process and successful treatment for ABPM caused by Schizophyllum commune: a report of two cases

BACKGROUND

Although mucoid impaction of the bronchi (MIB) is a well-known manifestation in allergic bronchopulmonary mycosis (ABPM), when unknown samples or plural eumycetes are cultured from bronchial materials, several problems are encountered which can affect the definitive diagnostic process or successful treatment.

CASE SUMMARY

The definitive diagnostic process of two patients [a 58-(Case 1) and a 70-(Case 2) year-old female] with MIB was: 1) to identify the existence of any allergic respiratory disorder, 2) to detect the fungi obtained from bronchial materials, with use of the 28S rDNA sequencing and analysis, 3) to investigate whether the detected fungus was a probable etiologic antigen, and 4) to make the final diagnosis based on the results of the inhalation examinations using the antigenic solution of the fungi. As a treatment strategy, bronchial toilet and low dose itraconazole therapy were planned according to the clinical manifestations of each patient.

DISCUSSION

The two patients with MIB were successfully diagnosed as ABPM caused by Schizophyllum commune (Sc-ABPM) accompanied with hyperattenuating mucoid impaction. The reliability of some allergological makers as a substitution for the bronchoprovocation test should be clarified in near future. Clinical manifestations demonstrated in our cases suggested that the allergic reaction such as eosinophilic bronchoalveolitis spreading around the mucus plug was a primary lesion underlying the Sc-ABPM. The success of the treatment for Sc-ABPM will be achieved by the strategy targeting to fundamental condition and by the control of the disease recurrence by means of effective environmental management.