Histoplasmosis en un varón inmunocompetente manifestada 45 años después de la infección / Histoplasmosis in an immunocompetent man manifested 45 years after infection

ResumenSe presenta el caso de un paciente de 68 años, inmunocompetente, natural de Barcelona (España), donde reside habitualmente, en el que se desarrolló una hemoptisis debida a un infiltrado pulmonar, consecuencia de la reactivación pulmonar de una histoplasmosis adquirida en África Ecuatorial 45 años antes.El diagnóstico se realizó por la observación de levaduras características de Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum en una biopsia del pulmón y por la detección de anticuerpos contra antígenos de este hongo. El tratamiento con itraconazol (400mg durante 3 meses) condujo a la desaparición del nódulo y a la negativización de las pruebas serológicas a los 4 años de seguimiento(AU)

AbstractWe report a case of a lung reactivation of a latent histoplasmosis in a 68 year-old patient without immunologic dysfunction living in Barcelona (Spain).The Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum infection was probably acquired in a previous stay in Equatorial Guinea 48 years before.Diagnosis of mild chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis was performed by histopathology of lung biopsy plus antibodies detection against H. capsulatum. Treatment with oral itraconazol during three months leaded to a complete clinical cure, and antibodies disappeared after four years of follow up

[Histoplasmosis 45 years after infection in an immunocompetent man]. / Histoplasmosis en un varón inmunocompetente manifestada 45 años después de la infección.

We report a case of a lung reactivation of a latent histoplasmosis in a 68-year-old patient without immunologic dysfunction living in Barcelona (Spain). The Histoplasma capsulatum var. capsulatum infection was probably acquired in a previous stay in Equatorial Guinea 45 years before. Diagnosis of mild chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis was performed by histopathology of lung biopsy plus antibodies detection against H. capsulatum. Treatment with oral itraconazol during three months leaded to a complete clinical cure, and antibodies disappeared after four years of follow up.

A device for the color measurement and detection of spots on the skin.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: In this work, we present a new and fast easy-to-use device that allows the measurement of color and the detection of spots on the human skin. The developed device is highly practical for relatively untrained operators and uses inexpensive consumer equipment, such as a CCD color camera, a light source composed of LEDs and a laptop. The knowledge of the color of the skin and the detection of spots can be useful in several areas such as in dermatology applications, the cosmetics industry, the biometrics field, health care, etc. METHODS: In order to perform these measurements the system takes a picture of the skin. After that, the operator selects the region of the skin to be analyzed on the displayed image and the system provides the CIELAB color coordinates, the chroma and the ITA parameter (Individual Tipology Angle), allowing the comparison with other reference images by means of CIELAB color differences. The system also detects spots, such as freckles, age spots, sunspots, pimples, black heads, etc., in a determined region, allowing the objective measurement of their size and area. RESULTS: The colorimetric information provided by a conventional spectrophotometer for the tested samples and the computed values obtained with the new developed system are quite similar, meaning that the developed system can be used to perform color measurements with relatively high accuracy. On the other hand, the feasibility of the system in order to detect and measure spots on the human skin has also been checked over a great amount of images, obtaining results with high precision. CONCLUSION: In this work, we present a new system that may be very useful in order to measure the color and to detect spots of the skin. Its portability and easy applicability will be very useful in dermatologic and cosmetic studies.