Interview with CPA patient RW on long term antifungal treatments

Group: Patients and general interest

Description:

A patient interview. This patient RW- with long term chronic pulmonary aspergillosis describes his experiences over 18 years during which he has taken various antifungal treatments. He remains well and currently takes itraconazole. A synopsis is shown below. This patient underwent a lung resection in 1991 for a suspect lesion in his lung, histology revealed inflammation and an area containing fungal hyphae consistent with a fungal ball. Resection appeared to cure the problem. However in 1992 he re-presented with a large new cavity near the site of the surgery and a probable fungal ball seen on X ray. A bronchoscopy sample grew aspergillus and his blood tests were positive for aspergillus precipitins. Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis was diagnosed. Antifungal treatment on itraconazole was started and much improvement was seen. During the next few years the patient tried voriconazole (as a trial drug) – on which he experienced a red facial rash; IV amphotericin – which improved his condition markedly. Itraconazole treatment was then restarted and the patient has been largely stable on this antifungal drug over the last 13 years. On the occasions he has stopped the drug – he has relapsed and it has taken some months before he was again stable. The patient is currently in good health (11/09). We would like to thank the patient for agreeing to share his experiences.

Medical and Patient education videos

Showing 10 posts of 266 posts found.

  • Title

    Description

  • Talks from the opening meeting of The National Aspergillosis Centre, Manchester, UK

    Opening of the UK’s first National Centre for Aspergillosis was marked by a series of short talks from Doctors, Scientists and Patients.

  • Interview with CPA patient

    This patient had severe kyphoscoliosis as a child with insertion of spinal rods in early adulthood. She is a life-long non-smoker. She first presented in 2001 with an irritating cough and several treatments with antibiotics failed to alleviate it.Aspergillus precipitin titre was high and she was initially diagnosed with chronic pulmonary aspergillosis with one cavity containing an aspergilloma. This patient developed resistance to all azole therapies.

  • Indoor mould. How can I clean up at home?

    Sources of aspergillus and how can I clean up at home? By Professor Malcolm Richardson

  • Active cycle breathing technigues and benefits of excercise for aspergillosis patients

    Informal recording of a meeting for patients. By Philip Langridge Aspergillosis Specialist Physiotherapist.

  • Tips on how to produce sputum

    Simple steps for patients to loosen phlegm in the lungs and easily produce sputum samples for testing in the clinic. Designed for aspergillosis patients or any patients with respiratory illnesses.

  • Double lung transplant & CF

    A double lung transplant has been carried out on a young cystic fibrosis patient, who had more than 10 aspergillomas in her lung. Clip shown on BBC North West news shows an interview with Becky and Prof Denning.

  • A carer’s story of living with aspergillosis

    Short history from patient’s wife. Brief history and experiences of attending National Aspergillosis Centre

  • Identification of antibodies to fungal pathogens by immunodiffusion

    Immunodiffusion technique to test for serum antibodies in patients – describes how to set up a test for the presence of antibodies in serum which are specific to various fungal pathogens. The technique is used to test and measure titres of these antibodies in the serum of infected patients.

  • BBC nearly half of adults with cystic fibrosis are infected by aspergillus

    21-year-old medical student Jo Armstead has made a major discovery, which will help doctors better able to diagnose and treat patients with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). Jo spent hundreds of hours accessing data from 30 countries to discover that there are over 75,000 people with the genetic disorder, of whom half are over 18 years – with 50 per cent infected by the fungus, Aspergillus. Professor David Denning, Director of the NHS National Aspergillosis Centre and Professor of Infectious Diseases in Global Health at the University of Manchester explains: “The life expectancy of people with CF has been increasing, but aspergillosis has a major negative impact on many. By painstakingly crunching the numbers, Jo has helped us better understand the scale of the challenge which will lead to better diagnostics and treatment strategies.” Prof Denning and Jo were interviewed on BBC-1 Breakfast last Sunday June 29th.

  • Open the windows Poetry & Medicine

    Literary event – Manchester Literature Festival hosted at Manchester Museum to increase awareness of Aspergillosis, in October 2013. Exploring literature, music and medicine.