Occasionally a patient with acute blastomycosis will develop diffuse pulmonary disease with acute respiratory failure.
Clinical features:
(1) high fever
(2) Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
(3) hypoxemia
(4) diffuse lung infiltrates on chest imaging studies
(5) need for ventilatory support
The diagnosis may be difficult if:
(1) the possibility of blastomycosis is not considered
(2) yeast are not seen in clinical specimens
(3) results of serologic fungal testing are not available
The diagnosis may be reached:
(1) after excluding other causes of ARDS
(2) by identification of yeast in a clinical specimen
(3) after a positive clinical response to systemic antifungal therapy
(4) at autopsy
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Specialty: Infectious Diseases
ICD-10: ,
