Parasitic infections

Abstract

Although all 43 of the parasites described in this chapter have been found in the lungs and associated tissues of humans, only two of these parasites infect human lungs by preference. The remainder are either lost in the wrong tissue or host, in transit to another organ, or the pulmonary involvement is part of disseminated disease (Table 14.1). Almost half of these parasites do not ordinarily infect people, and the vast majority must be identified from the two-dimensional histologic examination. Therefore, parasites in the lung present a difficult diagnostic problem for the pathologist. A specific diagnosis, when at all possible, requires demonstration of unique morphologic features of the parasite evident in tissue sections. © 2008 Springer New York.