Candida lung abscesses complicating parenteral nutrition.

Pulmonary candidiasis is a rare condition that usually occurs in severely ill patients with underlying immunosuppression. The clinical diagnosis is very rarely confirmed in vivo by lung biopsy.' Total parenteral nutrition is an increasingly common technique for the management ofpatients with intestinal failure. Catheter related sepsis occurs in 2-11% of patients treated by total parenteral nutrition, the commonest pathogens being Candida albicans and staphylococci.2'Over 200 patients in the United Kingdom with long term dysfunction of the alimentary tract have been treated by parenteral nutrition at home.6 The annual rate of sepsis in patients having total parenteral nutrition at home ranges from 0-2 episodes in centres with a large experience to 0 9 episodes a patient in less experienced centres.6 We report a case of Candida pneumonitis associated with colonisation of a parenteral nutrition feeding line in an adult.