Joo In Kim

A Case of Endobronchial Actinomycosis

Actinomycosis is an infectious disease caused by certain Actinomyces species. Actinomyces are Gram-positive, non-spore forming organisms characterized by obligate or facultative anaerobic rods that normally inhabit anaerobic niches of the human oral cavity. Cervicofacial, abdominal, pelvic and thoracic infections of Actinomyces are not uncommon, but endobronchial actinomycosis is rarely reported. Endobronchial actinomycosis can be misdiagnosed as unresolving pneumonia, endobronchial lipoma or malignancies. Endobronchial actinomycosis should be included in the differential diagnosis of any endobronchial mass. We report a case of a 43-year-old man who presented with a productive cough and pulmonary consolidation at the right lower lobe on chest radiograph. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy revealed obstruction of the right superior segment of the lower bronchus with an exophytic endobronchial mass. Endobronchial actinomycosis was confirmed by demonstration of sulfur granules in the bronchoscopic biopsy of the mass. Intravenous administration of penicillin G followed by oral amoxacillin/clavulanic acid therapy for 3 months resulted in improving symptoms. Infiltrative consolidation on the chest X-ray was markedly decreased.

A Case of Carbamazepine Induced Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia

BOOP(Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia) is an inflammatory reaction that follows damage to the bronchiolar epithelium of the small conducting airways. BOOP is characterized by the pathologic finding of excessive proliferation of granulation tissue within the respiratory bronchioles, alveolar duct and spaces, accompanied by organizing pneumonia in the more distal parenchyma BOOP may result from diverse causes such as toxic fumes, connective tissue disorders, infections, organ transplantation and drugs or appear idiopathically. Drug induced BOOP has been described in association with acebutolol, amiodarone, cephalosporin, bleomycine, tryptophan, gold salts, barbiturates, sulfasalazine, and carbamazepine. Carbamazepine is an iminostilbene derivative that is used as both an anticonvulsant and pain reliever for pains associated with trigeminal neuralgia. It is structually related to the tricyclic antidepressants. To our knowledge, there have been no previously reported case that has described development of BOOP during carbamazepine treatment in Korea, and only two cases have been reported in the world. We report a case carbamazepine-induced BOOP with a brief review of literature.