Terminology Flashcards
What is mucormycosis?
Mucormycosis is an invasive and frequently fatal infection with fungi of the family Mucoraceae and the class Zygomycetes.
Pathology: The fungi responsible have an affinity for blood vessels, in which they cause thrombosis and infarction. The form of this disease that affects the head and face usually causes paranasal sinus infections, esp. during periods of ketoacidosis in persons with diabetes mellitus. This form may also disseminate to the brain. The pulmonary form of the disease causes infarcts of the lung; the gastrointestinal form causes mucosal ulcers and gangrene of the stomach. The disease is contracted by inhalation or ingestion of the fungus by susceptible individuals. Most persons have a natural resistance to the fungus, accounting for the rarity of the disease.
Treatment: Radical surgery may sometimes be used to remove the invasive fungal mass. Potent antifungal agents, such as amphotericin B, may be given intravenously. Control of underlying immunosuppressive conditions may be helpful.
Risk Factors: The infection occurs most commonly in persons with immunosuppressive conditions, such as AIDS, or poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, or in recipients of transplanted organs who are taking immunosuppressive drugs.
What is eschar?
Eschar is dead matter that is cast off from the surface of the skin, as after a burn or on the tips of cautery during coagulation and cutting of tissue. The tissue is hard, black or brown, and leathery in texture.
What is aspergillosis?
Aspergillosis is an infection caused by the Aspergillus fungus or one of its mold species, of which A. fumigatus is the most common. Colonizing aspergillosis involves growth of the fungus within the body, without tissue invasion. Invasive aspergillosis is an opportunistic infection that affects people with immunodeficiencies; the primary infection is usually pneumonia, but the brain, kidney, and heart valves may also be affected. The disease is diagnosed by fungal cultures (as from sputum or from samples obtain during bronchoscopy), by polymerase chain reaction blood tests, or by serum levels of aspergillosis antigen (galactomannan). It is treated with voriconazole, amphotericin B, or isavuconazole.
What is allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis?
Allergic bronchopulomary aspergillosis is a disease in which a patient with asthmatic bronchitis develops a hypersensitivity to Aspergillus colonizing (not invading) the airways.
Symptoms: Worsening of asthma, fleeting infiltrates, eosinophilia, and positive aspergillus precipitants are clues to diagnosis.
Treatment: The mainstay of therapy is the use of steroids to suppress the hypersensitivity.
What is sporotrichosis?
Sporotrichosis is a chronic granulomatous infection usually of the skin and superficial lymph node, marked by the formation of abscesses, nodules, and ulcers and caused by the fungus Sporothrix schenckii.
What is oncychomycosis?
Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the nails usually caused by Trichophyton and Tinea species and occasionally by Candida or other fungi. The hallmarks of the disease are thickening, scaling, and discoloration of the nailbed.
What is a dermatophyte?
A dermatophyte is a fungal infection of the skin producing yellow or fawn-colored branny patches. A topically applied azole antifungal cream or 2% selenium sulfide lotion is effective in treating the causative agent, the fungus Malassezia furfur.
What is dermatophytosis?
Dermatophytosis is a disease or condition of the skin, such as athlete’s foor (tinea pedis) caused by a dermatophyte.
What is leishmaniasis?
Leishmaniasis is any of a group of related chronic parasitic diseases of the skin, viscera, or mucous membranes, caused by species of the genus Leishmania. Leishmaniasis has occurred in epidemics but occurs mostly as an endemic disease in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East; U.S. military personnel overseas may be infected. One type of leishmaniasis, kala azar, causes visceral infection and involves the mononuclear phagocytic system, causing inflammation and fibrosis of the spleen and liver. It can be fatal if untreated. Mucosal leishmaniasis infection produces mutilating lesions that destroy the mucosa, esp. in the oral cavity, larynx, anus, and vulva. In the two cutaneous forms of leishmaniasis, multiple skin ulcers form on exposed areas of the face, hands, arms, and legs. These are not painful or contagious but, if left untreated, can leave permanent, disfiguring scars. Leishmania organisms infect and reproduce inside macrophages and are controlled by T-cell–mediated response. The strength of the patient’s immune system determines the severity of the disease.
Treatment: Drugs used to treat leishmaniasis include amphotericin B, miltefosine, paromomycin, and sodium stibogluconate.
What is cutaneous leishmaniasis?
Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an ulcerating chronic, modular skin lesion prevalent in Asia and the topic due to infection with Leishmania tropica.
What is kala-azar?
Kala-azar is a serious parasitic disease that invades internal organs and is caused by the intracellular protozoan Leishmania donovani in India and East Asia, by L. infantum in Mediterranean countries, and by L. chagasi in South and Central America. It is marked by fevers, splenic enlargement, and decreased blood cell counts. The disease is common in the rural parts of tropical and subtropical areas of the world, where it is often fatal.
