Parasitic Pneumonia and Lung Involvement

Table 1

Parasitic diseases, chest roentgenographic features, and chemotherapeutic agents.

Disease	Chest roentgenographic features	Reference	Chemotherapeutic agents	Reference
Malaria	Diffuse interstitial pulmonary edema, pleural effusion, lobar consolidation, bilaterally pulmonary infiltrates, diffuse bilateral alveolar opacities, bilateral basal ground glass opacities	[12–15]	Chloroquine (all Plasmodium species), Artemisinin-based combination regimens (all Plasmodium species)	[1, 11, 20, 22–25]
Amoebiasis	Pleural effusion, basal pulmonary involvement, elevation of hemidiaphragm	[1]	Metronidazole, diloxanide, lactoferrin, lactoferricin	[34, 35]
Leishmaniasis	Pleural effusion, mediastinal lymphadenopathy, pneumonitis (immunocompromised status)	[39, 40]	Pentavalent antimonials, pentamidine, amphotericin B, miltefosine	[48]
Trypanosomiasis	Pulmonary alveolar hemorrhage, alveolitis, pneumonitis, pulmonary emphysema (in vivo)	[52, 54]	Eflornithine, melasoprol (in vivo)	[8, 56, 57]
Pulmonary larval migrans	Localized patchy infiltrates	[1]	Diethylcarbamazine, Mebendazole, Albendazole	[67–69]
Toxoplasmosis	Interstitial pneumonia, diffuse alveolar damage, necrotizing pneumonia, obstructive or lobar pneumonia	[71, 72]	Combination regimen of pyrimethamine and sulfadiazine	[1]
Babesiosis	Noncardiogenic diffuse-bilateral-interstitial pulmonary edema and adult respiratory distress syndrome (complicated case)	[78]	Combination of clindamycin and quinine, or atovaquone and Azithromycin	[79, 80]
Filariasis	Bilateral military infiltrates, prominent hila with increased lung markings, normal	[84–89]	Diethylcarbamazine	[101–106]
Dirofilariasis	A solitary-coin or multiple nodules (usually less than 3 cm. in size, usually in the periphery of the right lower lobe)	[1, 109, 113, 114, 117, 118]	No specific medical therapy, but ivermectin may be useful, usually curative by wedge resection of the pulmonary nodule	[126, 127]
Strongyloidiasis	Bronchopneumonia, alveolar hemorrhages	[1]	Thiabendazole	[135]
Ascariasis	Peripherally basal opacities, unilateral or bilateral transient-migratory-non-segmental opacities of various sizes	[142]	Mebendazole, albendazole, pyrantel pamoate, piperazine citrate, ivermectin	[1]
Ancylostomiasis	Bronchitis, bronchopneumonia, transient pulmonary infiltrates	[128, 143, 144]	Mebedazole, albendazole, pyrantel pamoate, ivermectin	[128]
Paragonimiasis	Patchy consolidation, pleural thickening, pleural effusion, nodular lesions, cystic lesions, cavities, normal	[150, 153, 155–158]	Praziquantel, triclabendazole, niclofolan, bithionol	[147, 150, 164, 165]
Schistosomiasis	Multiple ill-defined small nodular lesions with ground glass-opacity halo, prominent hila, increased lung markings, enlargement of the right ventricle, dilatation of the pulmonary arteries and trunk as well as their interlobar branches (pulmonary hypertension and cor pulmonale)	[166, 170–173, 176]	Praziquantel, artemisinin derivatives	[166]
Hydatidosis/echinococcosis	Solitary or multiple round opacities with air-fluid level, water-lily sign, onion-peel sign, crescent sign	[1, 184]	Praziquantel, mebendazole, albendazole,	[187]
Trichinellosis	Patchy infiltrates, exaggerated and fuzzy lung markings, hilar enlargement	[192, 194, 195]	Mebendazole, albendazole	[128, 192]