Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society
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Over the last decade, there have been changes in the epidemiology of fungal infections as well as dramatic improvements in the antifungal armamentarium. Candida species are an increasingly important cause of infection among patients in intensive care units. Mold infections continue to occur predominantly among highly immunosuppressed patients, such as those who have acute leukemia and those undergoing hematopoietic stem cell or solid organ transplantation. ⋯ This agent has a very broad spectrum of activity, is available in both oral and intravenous formulations, and is approved for treatment of aspergillosis, other molds, and candidiasis. The major drawbacks with voriconazole are the number of drug-drug interactions and side effects, including rash, hepatitis, and visual disturbances. Treatment with amphotericin B, long the mainstay of antifungal therapy despite its inherent toxicity, is required much less often since the introduction of these new antifungal agents.
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Pulmonary vasculitis describes a number of distinct disorders that are pathologically characterized by the destruction of blood vessels. The clinical manifestations of each disorder are defined by the size, type, and location of the affected vasculature. ⋯ However, primary, idiopathic medium and large-vessel vasculitis, primary immune complex-mediated vasculitis, and secondary vasculitis are all capable of presenting with lung involvement. In this article, we focus on the more common, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated disorder, vasculitides.