Respirology Case Reports

Electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes) and vape products have multisystemic adverse effects despite being advertised as a safer smoking alternative and cessation device. We present a 22-year-old Filipino male with sudden chest pain. He had no known comorbidities but had a two-year history of daily vape use. Work-up revealed elevated cardiac markers, anteroseptal ST-elevation myocardial infarction, hypokinesia of the anterior wall and interventricular septum, and an ejection fraction of 30%. Chest radiography showed consolidation pneumonia but culture studies and Biofire Pneumonia Panel were negative for microbial detection...

Insufficient evidence is available for treating steroid-resistant immune checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (CIP). Although guidelines recommend the use of immunosuppressants, the efficacy of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) has not been sufficiently verified. We report two cases of steroid-resistant CIP treated with MMF. Both patients responded to initial treatment with prednisolone (PSL), but the CIP flared up repeatedly as the steroids were gradually tapered off. Upon receiving MMF in addition to PSL, their subjective symptoms improved, and the shadows gradually disappeared, allowing for a reduction in the steroid dose...

Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disease that is frequently localized in the lungs and lymph nodes. We herein report a case of pulmonary sarcoidosis secondary to shin'iseihaito administration. During remission with 5 mg prednisolone/day of maintenance treatment, chest computed tomography revealed a mass in the left lower lobe with re-enlarged bilateral hilar/mediastinal lymph nodes. Transbronchial lung biopsy of the mass and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration of mediastinal lymph nodes revealed adenocarcinoma and noncaseating granulomas, respectively...

The pathogenesis of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis involves not only eosinophils but also plasma cells that produce immunoglobulin E. Dupilumab may be an effective alternative to corticosteroids because it inhibits T cell to plasma cell differentiation by blocking IL4.

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) represents a rare, insidiously progressive disease of the pulmonary system, marked by cystic degradation of lung tissues leading to respiratory compromise. Pulmonary LAM has been identified as being associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) in its pulmonary manifestation (TSC-LAM), a multisystem genetic disorder resulting from mutations in either the TSC1 or TSC2 genes. Herein, we describe an early 20s female admitted to the hospital with dyspnea, chest pain, hypopigmented macules, and facial fibroadenomas...

NK/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL) is a highly aggressive malignant tumour with a very poor prognosis, which often poses diagnostic difficulties due to the non-specificity of its clinical presentation. NK/T-cell lymphoma with eosinophilic hyperplasia syndrome is extremely rare. This article describes a patient with NKTCL misdiagnosed as vasculitis who presented with sinusitis, abdominal pain, anorexia, and lung shadows. Additionally, the patient exhibited extremely high eosinophilia levels, which led to a further misdiagnosis of eosinophilic granuloma...

Delayed presentation of atypical HUS after COVID-19 with diffuse alveolar haemorrhage is uncommon and can be life threatening.

The authors present the clinical case of a 59-year-old female patient with a history of peripheral desaturation, which was detected in the perioperative period 4 years earlier. She reported exertional dyspnea, quantified as grade 2 on the Modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) Dyspnea Scale (walks slower than people of the same age because of dyspnea or has to stop for breath when walking at her own pace), and morning cough with mucoid sputum and denied platypnea, epistaxis, telangiectasias and hemoptysis...

A 78-year-old woman presented with multiple pulmonary nodules, mixed with solid and ground-glass nodules. We pathologically confirmed that the multiple pulmonary nodules were a combination of diffuse idiopathic pulmonary neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia (DIPNECH) and multiple pulmonary meningothelial-like nodules (MPMNs). This is the first case report of concurrent DIPNECH and MPMNs.

Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is a revolutionary tool for the diagnosis and staging of mediastinal disorders. Nevertheless, its diagnostic capability is reduced in certain disorders such as lymphoproliferative diseases. EBUS-guided transbronchial mediastinal cryobiopsy (EBUS-TBMC) is a novel technique that can provide larger samples with preserved tissue architecture, with an acceptable safety profile. In this case report, we present a middle-aged gentleman with a huge anterior mediastinal mass and bilateral mediastinal and hilar lymphadenopathy...

Pulmonary hydatid disease remains a global public health issue. Symptoms often result from cyst rupture, causing fever, cough, and hemoptysis. Radiographs may show homogeneous masses, air-fluid levels, or the pathognomonic "water lily" sign. Surgical removal is the primary treatment, with early diagnosis crucial to prevent acute hypersensitivity reactions and death.

Cryptococcus is a yeast-like fungus. Pulmonary lesions caused by Cryptococcus neoformans typically present as single or multiple nodules or infiltrative lesions in the lungs; however, endobronchial lesions are rare. A 40-year-old previously healthy Japanese man was referred to our hospital due to an abnormality detected on chest computed tomography. The analysis revealed focal bronchiectasis and bronchial wall thickening in the right upper lobe, which persisted for 6 months. Bronchoscopy showed reddish and edematous mucosa, stenosed bronchi (right B1 and B3), and white moss at the bifurcation of the right upper bronchus...

The first choice of treatment for simple pulmonary aspergilloma is surgery, but in clinical practice, many cases find surgery difficult. We report a case of simple pulmonary aspergilloma in which significant improvement was observed with pharmacological treatment alone, despite initially presenting with a large fungus ball.

Pulmonary agenesis is a rare congenital anomaly which can be isolated or co-exist with other developmental defects. Boyden et al has described three degrees of mal development of lung which include agenesis, hypoplasia and aplasia. Almost all the reported cases are in paediatric age group patients while, adults with pulmonary developmental abnormalities are sparsely documented in the literature. Interestingly, adult with coexisting hemifacial anomaly and pulmonary agenesis has not been reported in the medical literature...

Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a rare vascular neoplasm with a clinical behaviour that falls between a benign hemangioma and a high-grade angiosarcoma. Pleural EHE is exceptionally rare, and its prognosis is grim, with most patients experiencing survival of less than 1 year. Here, we present a case of pleural EHE in a 45-year-old woman with a month-long history of right-sided pleuritic chest pain. Chest computed tomography revealed consolidation, atelectasis of the right lung, right pleural thickening, and pleural effusion...

Bronchial artery embolization is a feasible option for treating hemoptysis caused by foreign objects in patients who are not candidates for surgery.

Existence of poorly differentiated tumour cells or paraneoplastic hypereosinophilia indicates extensive disease progression and poor prognosis in patients with malignancy. When these conditions are present, it is necessary to consider the possibility of intracardiac metastasis even in cases of lung adenocarcinoma.

Hydatid disease is a zoonotic parasitic infestation caused by tapeworms, particularly Echinococcus granulosus . The lung is the second most site followed by liver accounting for 10%-30% of the cases. Rupture of hydatid cyst can occur into pleura or bronchus. Surgery remains the mainstay of treatment for pulmonary hydatid.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, primarily nodal in nature, can present with rare endobronchial involvement, underscoring the importance of considering it in the differential diagnoses of endobronchial lesions.

Multiple myeloma (MM) is characterized by neoplastic proliferation of monoclonal antibody producing plasma cells. In clinical practice, pleural effusion is seen in up to 6% of MM patients, with many causative factors. Nevertheless, true myelomatous pleural effusion, defined as infiltration of the pleura by myeloma cells, is very rare. In this case report, we present two patients with biopsy proven myelomatous pleural effusion. The first patient developed myelomatous pleural effusion as initial presentation while the second patient's pleural effusion occurred during disease relapse...