Concomitant occurrence of advanced fibrocavitary pulmonary sarcoidosis and chronic pulmonary aspergillosis.

An African American man in his 30s presented with haemoptysis associated with chronic productive cough, exertional dyspnoea, weight loss and skin lesions. Physical examination was notable for multiple cutaneous plaques over upper extremities and face. CT chest showed bilateral upper lobes cavitations and left upper lobe mass like consolidation. Further workup revealed positive serum aspergillus IgG, respiratory culture grew Aspergillus fumigatus, skin biopsy showed non-caseating granuloma. A final diagnosis of concomitant chronic pulmonary aspergillosis and advanced fibrocavitary pulmonary sarcoidosis with cutaneous involvement was made. The patient was initiated on antifungal therapy without steroids due to the concern of worsening the fungal infection. However, he presented later with worsening haemoptysis requiring bronchial artery embolisation. Surgical intervention was recommended but the patient eventually declined. The patient continued to be followed up closely in the clinic and repeated chest imaging showed stable findings 3 months after initial presentation.

Ignatzschineria spp. bacteremia from maggot infestation.

Ignatzschineria spp. bacteremia associated with maggot infestation is extremely rare in humans. There are only a few cases worldwide ever reported in the literature. We described a clinical case with a male patient who presented with maggot manifestation at his lower extremity, was found with bacteremia, and subsequently identified as Ignatzschineria spp by 16S rRNA sequencing.

Idiopathic linear IgA bullous dermatosis treated with prednisone.

We present a case of a 43-year-old man with a medical history of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation that presented with acute onset generalised vesiculobullous rash of 1-week duration. The rash was initially noticed on his groin and then spread to his hands, feet and mucosal surfaces. Laboratory tests were unremarkable, including an extensive infection aetiology work-up. Punch biopsies were obtained of a fresh lesion and were stained with H&E and sent for direct immunofluorescence. Light microscopy and immunofluorescence study demonstrated a subepidermal blister with predominant neutrophilic infiltrates and a linear band of IgA at the dermoepidermal junction, respectively. The patient was diagnosed with linear IgA bullous dermatosis and was subsequently treated with 0.5 mg/kg of prednisone daily following previous case reports. At 1-week follow-up as an outpatient, the bullae became crusted, and the rash was nearly completely regressed.

Severe psoriasis presenting with rapidly progressive (crescentic) IgA-predominant glomerulonephritis.

IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is commonly associated with psoriasis; however, psoriasis presenting with crescentic IgAN is uncommon. A 49-year-old man with erythrodermic psoriasis with arthritis and stage 2 chronic kidney disease presented to the emergency department with worsening peripheral oedema and difficulty breathing. The patient had been hospitalised previously for a psoriasis flare. He was found to have an acute kidney injury on chronic kidney disease and was diagnosed with crescentic IgA glomerulonephritis on his first hospitalisation. He was treated with corticosteroids and was discharged stable with a plan to start cyclophosphamide in the outpatient setting. On his current hospitalisation, cyclophosphamide was added to his corticosteroids. Crescentic IgAN is rare. Its management has been based largely on observational studies. Our case highlights the importance of starting combined corticosteroids and cyclophosphamide early in crescentic IgAN and that corticosteroid monotherapy is insufficient in controlling disease progression.