Assignment 1 Case Study
The purpose of this paper is to examine a case study and analyze the symptoms presented. You will identify cell, gene, and/or process elements that may be factors in the diagnosis, and you explain the implications to patient health. You must include references to support your assertions
Scenario 1: A 49-year-old patient with rheumatoid arthritis comes into the clinic with a chief complaint of a fever. Patient’s current medications include atorvastatin 40 mg at night, methotrexate 10 mg po every Friday morning and prednisone 5 mg po qam. He states that he has had a fever up to 101 degrees F for about a week and admits to chills and sweats. He says he has had more fatigue than usual and reports some chest pain associated with coughing. He admits to having occasional episodes of hemoptysis. He works as a grain inspector at a large farm cooperative. After extensive work-up, the patient was diagnosed with Invasive aspergillosis.
Develop a 1-2-page case study analysis in which you:
- Explain why you think the patient presented the symptoms described.
- Identify the genes that may be associated with the development of the disease.
- Explain the process of immunosuppression and the effect it has on body system.
Patient’s Presenting Symptoms
The 49-year-old patient presents with fever and chills, sweating, fatigue, chest pain and coughing, and haemoptysis episode symptoms. These are symptoms of invasive aspergillosis, the most severe aspergillosis (Deigendesch & Stenzel, 2018). The reasons why the patient presented with these symptoms include:
- Chest pain and coughing: The patient has chronic lung conditions which have caused cavities to form in the lung. Also, infection of lung cavities with Aspergillus causes the patient to experience chest pain due to coughing.
- Fever, sweating, and chills: The patient present with fever, sweating, and chills possibly because the infection has rapidly spread from the lungs to the brain, kidney, skin, and heart.
- Haemoptysis episodes/coughing blood: This is due to the infected Aspergillus resulting in the coughing of blood by the patient.
- Fatigue: Long time without treatment of chronic lung condition and also effects of arthritis are possibly making the client experience fatigue.
These symptoms match the criteria for invasive aspergillosis diagnosis, whose risk factors include lung cavities, compromised immune system, arthritis, cystic fibrosis, and corticosteroid therapy.
Gene Associated with the Disease Development
Invasive aspergillosis is caused by Aspergillus fumigatus. According to (Lamoth, 2016), aspergillosis encompasses a spectrum of disorders caused by fungi of the Aspergillus genus with clinical manifestations that include colonization aspergilloma, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis, and other dissemination types of infection. Studies by (Naaraayan, et al., 2015) posits that invasive aspergillosis manifests in 10 percent of acute myeloid leukaemia victims during consolidation therapy or post-induction aplasia. Also, Invasive aspergillosis occurs in approximately 10 percent of allogeneic HSCT recipients.
Other people at the risk of transaction Invasive aspergillosis include solid organ transplant recipients with chronic granulomatous disease conditions. However, for most victims, the genetic propensity to Invasive aspergillosis typically has a polygenic origin (Meneau, Coste, & Sanglard, 2016). Polymorphisms contained in the genes regulating immune system function are potentially vital during immunosuppression times. Exegesis of the host’s genetic influence to Invasive aspergillosis progression risk is aided by complimentary utilization of human cohorts and animal models for discovery of the genetic polymorphisms which regulate susceptibility in the at-risk host.