Opportunistic infections in immunosupressed/immunodeficient
patients: a histological and immunohistochemical study in three
cases
Athanasiou E.1, Barbanis S.1,
Kostopoulos I.1, Kaloutsi V.1,
Zois E.2, Ageloudi M.3,
Malaka A.4, Papadimitriou C.1
1Department of Pathology,
School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki,
2Department of Pathology, General
Hospital of Heraklion « Venizelion-Pananion» Creta,
3Department of Internal Medicine
A, School of Medicine, Aristotle Univercity of Thessaloniki,
4Department of Pediatrics, School
of Medicine, Aristotle Univercity of Thessaloniki.
The correct and early diagnosis of opportunistic infections is
essential for proper treatment. These infections, which are caused
by fungi, parasites, viruses and bacteria, are often difficult
to diagnose, because of their rarity and lack of special diagnostic
methods. In our present study we report three cases of opportunistic
infections in two immunosupressed patients and one patient with
immunodeficiency. The first two cases concern a patient with acute
lymphoblastic leucemia under chemotherapy who developed mucormycosis
of the skin and Kaposi’s sarcoma and a patient with kidney transplantation
who developed cryptococcosis of the skin during organ rejection.
The third case, concerns a boy with T-cell immunodeficiency who
developed infection caused by atypical mycobacteria. Differential
diagnosis in these cases is very wide. The contribution of immunohistochemistry
using antibodies against cryptococcus, mycobacteria and mucor,
is emphasized. In our cases the histological, histochemical and
mainly the immunohistochemical findings led to the correct and
early diagnosis.
Key words: Opportunistic Infections, Mucormycosis, Atypical
Mycobacteria Cryptococcus, Immunohistochemistry.
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