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The article presents the study to evaluate the long-term clinical course of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients complicated with pulmonary arterial hypertension. These patients have undergone initial workup with right-heart catheterization and pulmonary function testing, and pulmonary arterial pressure and diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLCO) are focused. The findings revealed that DLCO is a key factor for evaluating disease status and prognosis.

The seromucinous glands of the bronchi can give rise to tumors resembling those of the salivary glands. Basal cell adenoma (BCA) has not been reported in salivary gland-type tumors of the lung. Here, we report a case of an 86-year-old Asian man who suffered from pneumonia in the left upper lung field that may be associated with an endobronchial tumor occluding B1 + 2a + b. The bronchoscopic biopsy of the tumor revealed that the basaloid cells, which constituted a major component of the tumor and were positive for p40/p63 immunohistochemistry, exhibited a cord-like structure. The Ki-67 (MKI67) staining was less than 1% positive. These findings suggest that the endobronchial tumor was BCA of the lung, which caused obstructive pneumonia in the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spleen plays an important role in the body's immune defense against invasive infections, particularly those caused by encapsulated bacteria. Encapsulated bacterial infection in asplenic patients is a medical emergency called overwhelming postsplenectomy infection (OPSI) and has a mortality rate of 50–70%. Here, we report the case of a 51-year-old Asian man who complained of emesis and diarrhea as primary symptoms. He rapidly progressed to coma and was eventually diagnosed with OPSI (pyogenic ventriculitis/spondylitis) caused by non-vaccine pneumococcal serotype 23A. Aggressive management, including empiric antibiotic therapy, a staircase approach for intracranial pressure-targeted therapy and laminectomy/laminoplasty, resulted in a good recovery. Our report highlights that non-vaccine pneumococcal serotypes can cause disease in vaccinated patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actinomycosis is an infrequent invasive bacterial disease. Although multiple different clinical features of actinomycosis have been described, pulmonary actinomycosis (PA) is a rare but challenging diagnosis and complete cure to make. Here we report the case of a 41-year-old Asian woman who had a mass-like consolidation in the right middle lung field. The lung lesion was exacerbated after initial treatment. After diagnosis of PA, thoracoscopic resection combined with intravenous and oral penicillin made a good recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The role of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) cell profiles in predicting the clinical outcome of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)/usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) is still under discussion. Objective: To determine whether BALF cell profiles affect the survival of patients with UIP diagnosed by surgical lung biopsy/autopsy at the early stage of IPF. Methods: This hospital-based retrospective cohort study used 81 Japanese patients with histologically proven IPF/UIP who underwent BAL examination. The BALF samples were obtained from non-current smokers: NCS (n = 41) and current smokers: CS (n = 40). The Kaplan-Meier and Cox’s proportional hazard methods were used to estimate the survival and evaluate the risk ratio for death in the two groups. To detect the multicollinearity, a stepwise regression was employed. Results: A slight increase in the absolute numbers of BALF neutrophils tended to relate to a decrease in the relative risk for death in NCS patients and CS patients in the univariate analysis. In stepwise regression, the increase in percent vital capacity and the increase in the BALF CD4/CD8 ratio in NCS was detected as a favorable predictor, while increased BALF cells affected the results due to chronic smoking in CS. Conclusions: Based on the study bias of the biopsy-proven IPF/UIP patients at stable stages, an independent variable indicating a favorable outcome was an increased BALF CD4/CD8 ratio in NCS patients, while it was difficult to identify definite prognosticators in CS patients. Copyright © 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: B7 proteins (CD80, CD86) are costimulatory molecules expressed on antigen-presenting cells and are essential factors for T cell activation. Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship of B7 gene polymorphisms either to disease susceptibility or to cell profile of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid in Japanese sarcoidosis patients. Methods: Gene polymorphisms located in CD80 promoter, CD80 exon 3 and exon 8 of CD86 were examined in 146 Japanese sarcoidosis patients and 157 healthy controls using single-strand conformation polymorphism and direct sequencing. The distribution of genotypes was compared between the two groups. BAL fluid cell profiles were compared for the various genotypes of the different polymorphisms for the 62 patients who underwent BAL. Results: There were no significant differences in the distribution of genotypes or allele frequencies for all polymorphisms between sarcoidosis and controls. There were no significant differences in BAL fluid cell profiles among the different genotype groups of the various polymorphisms studied. Conclusions: There was no relationship between the B7 gene polymorphisms studied and disease susceptibility or BAL fluid cell profiles in Japanese sarcoidosis patients. Copyright © 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approximately 70% of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) cases are idiopathic, but SSNHL may occasionally be related to fatality. Here, we report the case of a 54-year-old Asian female who complained of hearing loss as a primary symptom and was diagnosed with pyogenic ventriculitis (PV) derived from Streptococcus agalactiae endocarditis. Both PV and S. agalactiae endocarditis are rare and very severe infections with a high mortality rate. Rapid intensive treatment and surgery were required for successful clinical outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights from the article: The thyroid gland (i.e. a thyroid tumour), which displaced the Thyroid from lung primaries if differentiation to mature thyroid Pan-keratin AE1/3-positive, CK7-positive, CK20-negative, and TTF-1-positive tumours suggested thyroid or lung carcinomas.