title: A fulminant case of acute respiratory distress syndrome associated with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.
abstract: Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by mycoplasmas is very rare. This report describes a severe case of atypical pneumonia due to M. pneumoniae in a formerly healthy young woman who developed high grade fever and cough leading to severe disseminated lung disease and finally to fatal ARDS. This case came into picture when killer atypical pneumonia, namely, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), spread very fast from South-Asian countries to the rest of the world. Moreover, the clinical presentation and radiologic features of SARS bear resemblance to the syndrome of atypical pneumonia, which lead us to investigate this case into detail. We suggest that M. pneumoniae infections should be included in the differential diagnosis of pathogens causing ARDS, establishing an early diagnosis may have important therapeutic implications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110 029, India.
authors.forename: Rama
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.forename: Irum
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tabassum
authors.forename: Lata
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kapoor
authors.forename: Anjolie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chhabra
authors.forename: Nidhi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Shobha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Broor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D007194:India; D009177:Mycoplasma pneumoniae / Q000276:immunology*; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D012128:Respiratory Distress Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial