A CASE OF ALLERGIC BRONCHO PULMONARY ASPERGILLOSIS, MIMICKING TUBERCULOSIS

PRESENTATION OF CASE
\nAspergillus, a ubiquitous fungus, causes a wide spectrum of
\nillnesses, ranging from asthma to more lethal invasive
\naspergillosis. Usual route of entry is via inhalation. More than
\nhundred and fifty species are identified. And of these
\nAspergillus fumigatus is responsible for more than ninetyfive percent of aspergillus related illnesses. Allergic
\nbronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is the1 best
\nrecognized clinical entity and was first reported in 1982.
\nABPA is commonly seen in patients with asthma and cystic
\nfibrosis. ABPA frequently masquerades as pulmonary
\ntuberculosis. Patients usually come with fever, haemoptysis,
\nexpectoration of brownish mucus plugs, and wheezing.
\nThirty percent of patients present with heamoptysis.2
\nA 21-year-old female brought to the emergency room
\nwith complaints of cough, haemoptysis, breathlessness, on
\nand off fever for fourteen days. She gave the history of
\nepisodic wheezing, breathlessness, for the last eleven years;
\nand she had required hospital admissions with these
\nsymptoms on several occasions. She had been taking regular
\ninhaler medications.