A Case of Pulmonary Blastomycosis Mimicking Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Jhun, Byung Woo; Kim, Da Min; Park, Ji Hyeon; Yoo, Hong Seok; Shim, Hunbo; Kim, Jhin Gook; Han, Joungho; Kwon, O Jung

doi:2012.72.1.77

Tuberc Respir Dis > Volume 72(1); 2012 > Article

Case Report

Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases 2012;72(1):77-81.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2012.72.1.77 Published online January 1, 2012.

A Case of Pulmonary Blastomycosis Mimicking Pulmonary Tuberculosis.

Byung Woo Jhun, Da Min Kim, Ji Hyeon Park, Hong Seok Yoo, Hunbo Shim, Jhin Gook Kim, Joungho Han, O Jung Kwon

¹Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ojkwon@skku.edu
²Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
³Department of Pathology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Blastomyces dermatitidis is a dimorphic fungus that causes the systemic pyogranulomatous disease known as blastomycosis. Blastomycosis most often involves the lungs, skin, and may involve nearly every organ in the body. It is difficult, however, to diagnose blastomycosis in the early stage of pulmonary disease because clinical manifestations are varied from subclinical infection to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Since blastomycosis is often accompanied by granulomatous inflammation in histopathologic findings, differentiation from other etiologic diseases is important. We report a case of a 45-year-old male with pulmonary blastomycosis who had been misdiagnosed with tuberculosis for 3 months.

Key Words: Blastomycosis, Granuloma, Tuberculosis