Ghon focus

About: Ghon focus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11 publications have been published within this topic receiving 110 citations.

Cavitation of the ghon focus in an hiv-infected infant who acquired tuberculosis after the initiation of haart.

Abstract: Tuberculosis immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) may present as new or worsening cavitation. We present an HIV-infected infant in whom TB infection and subsequent cavitation of the Ghon focus appeared to coincide with immune reconstitution due to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). TB-IRIS in response to infection that occurs after starting HAART has not previously been described.

The timing from tuberculosis infection to cavitation

Abstract: Background. In Italy, a low risk country, reported tuberculosis cases among migrants have increased from 39.4% in 2004 to 63% in 2013 to 66.2% in 2017. Some physicians, particularly the youngest, deal poorly with epidemiology, pathogenesis and symptoms of pulmonary tuberculosis and sometimes misdiagnose tuberculosis for nontuberculous pneumonia. One of the reasons could be the lack of recognition of the time between tubercular infection and symptoms appearing. In the current medical literature, the pathological stages occurring from infection to active pulmonary disease are only partially known. Objectives. The aims of the present study are: 1) to give a review of the current medical literature in the topic and 2) to offer to doctors, particularly those involved in the first aid to migrant population from high tuberculosis risk countries, useful data to better understand the concrete risk of pulmonary tuberculosis infectiousness during the time of its pathogenesis.Method. Historical studies, animal models (particularly the macaques’ models) and mathematical simulations related to the evolution of pulmonary lesions after tuberculosis infection were reviewed. Definitions of tubercular granuloma and cavitation and hypotheses about their formation were also summarized. Moreover, a very rare event today, the clinical evolution, accompanied by radiological documentation, without treatment, of a case of pulmonary tuberculosis from the stadium immediately subsequent the granuloma’s formation until cavitation, through the stage of nodular lesion, not excavated yet contagious, is reported. Conclusion. The period during which pulmonary tuberculosis evolves from the Ghon focus to pulmonary consolidation/cavitation may exceed 12-18 months.

An uncommon cause for a unilateral pleural effusion: Rheumatoid pleuritis.

Abstract: A male temporary resident of Korean descent, 31 years of age, was referred by a general practitioner (GP) to a metropolitan hospital with a four-week history of cough, lethargy, febrile illness and generalised arthralgia. He had an outpatient chest radiograph, which revealed a large left-sided pleural effusion with an ill-defined right mid-zone density suspicious for a Ghon focus (Figure 1). The patient reported no infectious contacts or a history of tuberculosis (TB) or immunosuppression. Observations were within normal parameters on presentation. Clinical examination revealed dullness to percussion of the left middle and lower lung zones, with decreased breath sounds. His inflammatory markers were 9 x 109/L for white cell count and 159 mg/L for C-reactive protein.