Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is a kind of rare malignancy which often occurs in children and is related to dysplasia. It always involves in pleura and lung. PPB is misdiagnosed easily because of its special pathophysiological characters and complex biological behavior. Early detection and correct treatment are very important for thoracic surgeon to cure PPB. This paper reviews the advance of pathophysiological characters, molecular genetic characters, clinical manifestation, clinical diagnosis and differential diagnosis, and treatment and prognosis of PPB.
ObjectiveTo explore the clinical characters, diagnosis and treatment of Penicilliosis marneffei (PSM) in healthy hosts. MethodsThe clinical data of three cases of PSM involving the lung, bronchus and pleura in healthy hosts were retrospectively analyzed, and the case reports of Penicillium marneffei (PM) infection in healthy hosts were summarized by searching database for related articles, with "Penicilliosis marneffei" as key word both in English and Chinese literatures. ResultsThe main clinical manifestations of three PSM patients included fever, cough, lymphadenopathy, and elevated white blood cell counts.Series of chest computed tomography of three cases demonstrated atypical and extensive lung lesions.The fiberoptic bronchoscopy of the 2nd case showed several irregular nodules on the bronchial wall.The thoracoscopy of the 3rd case showed much pleural adhesions and small nodules on visceral and parietal pleura.Final diagnosis of PSM was confirmed by the fungal culture, and all patients received antifungal treatment.The symptoms relieved on medication but reoccurred on discontinuation.Literature review identified 36 cases of PSM in healthy hosts.The main clinical features were fever, cough/expectoration, skin rash/skin abscess and elevated white blood cell counts.The most common used antifungal drug was amphotericin B alone or combined with traconazole.The thoracic radiological imaging showed that roughly half of them had clearly thoracic lesions (20/36, 55.65%), and the pulmonary inflammatory infiltrate shadow was most common.Seventeen cases (47.22%) were misdiagnosed as tuberculosis. ConclusionsPulmonary involvement is common in healthy hosts with PSM and the thoracic radiological features are variable and unspecific, so PSM is easy to be misdiagnosed as tuberculosis.The PSM patients need a longer treatment than other fungal infections.
Objective By analyzing and summarizing the clinical characteristics of pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis (PCH), to enhance clinical physicians’ recognition, diagnosis and treatment capabilities for PCH. Methods Clinical data of two cases of PCH, who were diagnosed in Nanjing Tower Hospital, were reported retrospectively. Simultaneously, by using “Pulmonary Capillary Hemangiomatosis” as keywords, a total of 227 relevant articles was retrieved from domestic and international databases and 113 articles of case report were analyzed. Results Two cases of PCH patients were diagnosed eventually in our hospital, which were initially misdiagnosed as other diseases. After follow-up, the first case underwent lung transplantation four months after diagnosis, and the second case had been regularly taking medication to decrease pulmonary arterial pressure. Currently, two patients were in stable condition with pulmonary artery pressure significantly reduced. In literature review, 93 patients’ medical records were included in this study. We summarized the diagnostic methods, clinical manifestations, genetic testing, function check results, imaging characteristics, histopathology, treatment and prognosis of these patients. Conclusions PCH is very rare. The extremely low incidence rate and nonspecific clinical manifestations lead to high risk of misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis. Therefore, fully understanding and grasping its clinical characteristics are crucial for reducing misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis in the future.