Search

What Is an Acute COPD Exacerbation? Results of a Survey among Primary Care Physicians in the German-Speaking Part of Switzerland Abstract. Acute exacerbations have a relevant impact on morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is why prophylactic and early treatment have become indispensable. However, COPD exacerbations are significantly under-diagnosed, possibly due to linguistic discrepancies between physician and patient. The aim of this study was to disclose how exacerbations are perceived by the GPs (general practitioners) and their patients and what linguistic conventions they use. This survey showed that GPs and their patients quite often have a divergent notion a common of COPD exacerbations.

We describe a 26-year-old male patient with fever and elevated inflammatory markers of three months duration plus an initial episode of encephalitis. Since intensive search for infectious diseases gave no positive results and ANA and ANCA titers were negative, Still's disease was assumed. But as the patient developed a nodular erythema, polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) was revealed by histopathology. The case underlines, that PAN presents mostly with general symptoms. Therefore, the diagnosis is difficult. An encephalitis is a seldom manifestation of PAN.

Haemoptysis is defined as the expectoration of blood or bloody streaking of the sputum. The list of possible underlying differential diagnoses is broad, and the cause of haemoptysis depends on the origin of the individual patient. Patients with minor haemoptysis can often be managed in the outpatient setting. In contrast, patients with major haemoptysis require immediate in-hospital diagnostic workup and therapy. Patients with major haemoptysis should be managed by a multidisciplinary team consisting of Pulmonologists, Critical Care Physicians/Anaesthesiologists, Interventional Radiologists, and Thoracic Surgeons. In major haemoptysis, airway maintenance, adequate gas exchange, and haemodynamic stabilization are mandatory. In this article, the recommended diagnostic and therapeutic steps in patients with major haemoptysis (particularly computed tomography, laboratory analyses, bronchoscopy, and bronchial artery embolization) are presented and discussed.

A 37-years old patient of south Indian origin presented with pain in his right scapular region radiating to the right arm, numbness and muscular weakness of the fourth and fifth finger. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a mass at the right pleural dome with arrosion of the first rib (Pancoast presentation), an osteolytic process in the fourth rib and in the right hip. All three lesions had a high FDG uptake in the PET/CT suggestive for lung cancer metastases in this smoker. Surprisingly, the CT-guided fine needle biopsy revealed no malignancy, but granulomatous inflammation and epitheloid cells. Microscopy for acid-fast bacilli (AFB) was negative, but the culture was positive for AFB. The HIV-negative patient received a regular antituberculous chemotherapy. His condition as well as the radiological findings improved gradually. In the majority of cases, space occupying masses in the upper sulcus are caused by non-small cell lung cancers. Extrapulmonal tuberculosis infection presenting as a Pancoast syndrome is a curiosity. However, with respect to the patients ethnical background this diagnosis should have been considered earlier.

Complete and isolated herniation of the urinary bladder is extremely rare, and the consecutive appearance of bilateral urethral obstruction and renal failure is even rarer. We report about a 73 year old male presenting with massive nausea and muscular weakness. On physical examination he showed a giant inguinal hernia with involvement of the entire bladder along with evidence of bilateral hydronephrosis. His serum creatinine and potassium levels were markedly elevated most likely leading to his presenting symptoms of azotemia (nausea) and hyperkalemia (weakness). After transscrotal drainage and decompression of the bladder, a transurethral catheter was inserted. After gaining full renal recovery, the hernia was repaired successfully performing the Lichtenstein procedure.