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Should all tubercular cavities be left alone? Lessons from a heart transplant

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Abstract

Fungal infection after solid organ transplantation poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. We present the case of a 50-year-old man who underwent orthotopic heart transplantation for dilated cardiomyopathy with a history of treated pulmonary tuberculosis 10 years pre-transplant. One year post-transplantation, he was admitted with recurrent productive cough and was evaluated to have intracavitory aspergillosis of the lung. He was started on medical therapy with reduction in immunosuppression, but succumbed later with allograft rejection and multiorgan failure. Management of invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised host is a real challenge. Management protocol should be individualised.

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Correspondence to Vinitha Viswambharan Nair.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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An informed consent was obtained from the relatives to publish the case details and images.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Nair, V.V., Narayan, K.V., Pulikottil, S.K. et al. Should all tubercular cavities be left alone? Lessons from a heart transplant. Indian J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 35, 64–67 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-018-0714-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12055-018-0714-3

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