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Background: Lung transplant patients are characterized by a high use of healthcare resources and an elevated rate of hospitalization. In lung transplant recipients, spirometry home monitoring has been advocated for the early detection of acute infection and rejection of the allograft. We will test a new system that allows regular monitoring of the patient's pulmonary status at home after discharge from hospital., Methods: This study will be prospective and in addition to usual healthcare. The main aim of this feasibility study will be to evaluate the compliance of patients in performing three spirometric measurements per week. Patients will have received a lung transplant more than three months prior to entering the study. The home equipment will comprise a data transmitting box (Twitoo(®)) and a spirometer. A decrease of 10% from baseline in one or more parameters will generate an alarm, which will lead to the transplant physician calling the patient and possibly inviting him to the hospital., Expected Results: The feasibility will be considered as acceptable for an average compliance of 70%. The coefficient of variation and the number of spiro-measurements will be adjusted according to the results obtained., (Copyright © 2013 SPLF. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Background: The most commonly used treatment for the sleep apnoea syndrome (SAS) is the application of constant positive airway pressure (CPAP) during sleep. Compliance is an essential element in the efficiency of CPAP. This is dependent on the quality of the management of care and on the education of the patients. With the emergence of telemedicine, telemonitoring of CPAP has been developed in France., Methods: This study will be observational and multicentered. The main aim is to evaluate the feasibility of CPAP telemonitoring in SAS patients (n=90). During the installation of the equipment, the patients will be instructed how to connect the CPAP Secure Digital card to a data transmitting box every week for two months. The actual number and frequency of remote-monitoring box connections will be recorded. The data transmission will be made to the study coordinator, the home care provider SADIR, by the way of a telemedicine platform, located in France., Expected Results: This study will allow measurement of the adherence of the patients to their CPAP treatment by telemonitoring using this new tool of data transmission and the impact of this on CPAP compliance., (Copyright © 2011 SPLF. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The most commonly used treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA) is the application of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) during sleep. However compliance with this treatment is frequently below 70%., Methods: The main aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of an educational intervention (EI) delivered in phone calls made to OSA patients (n=66) treated with CPAP by a home care provider (SADIR). The educational intervention consisted of five sessions of telephone based counseling intervention by appropriately trained staff delivered on day 3, 10, 30, 60 and 90 after initiation of treatment. Secondary objectives were to compare, using a case-control design, CPAP compliance of OSA patients (n=133) with or without EI., Results: Ninety-eight percent of patients accepted the intervention to participate in the study. Fifty-seven patients (86%) received the full intervention program and 44 patients (66%) strictly respected the pre-defined timings per protocol. A higher adherence to CPAP at six months was observed in the EI group compared to patient without EI (94% versus 81%) (P<0.05). CPAP compliance at three months was 54minutes higher in the EI group compared to the control group (4h39±2h17 and 3h45±2h45 respectively) but this difference was not statistically significant., Conclusion: An educational intervention dispensed by phone is applicable and would have an impact on CPAP compliance. Its efficacy on long-term compliance has to be confirmed in a larger group using a randomized procedure., (Copyright © 2011 SPLF. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

Strongyloides is an helminthic infection that may induce bronchospasm during systemic migration of larvae. We report a case of a 60 years old man originating from Caribbean who had corti-codependent asthma since 30 years. He was hospitalized for severe exacerbation that worsen when steroid dosage was increase. Sputum examination revealed the presence in great number of Larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis. A good clinical evolution was achieved after specific anti-helminthic treatment. Later on, it was even possible to stop completely steroid treatment. This clinical case demonstrates the interest to look for Strongyloides superinfection in asthmatic patients that worsen when receiving increasing dose of steroids. This is particularly important for patients who have resided, even many years earlier, in areas where intestinal helminthic infection are endemic.

The relationship between infections of the respiratory tract and exacerbations of pulmonary symptoms in individuals with asthma is well established on clinical grounds. Patients having an acute attack of asthma often give a history of a "cold" before the onset of the exacerbation. The identification rate of viruses during exacerbations of asthma (10-30%) is much higher than the viral identification rate generally found during asymptomatic periods in asthmatics (3%). The mechanisms whereby upper respiratory viruses might induce or contribute to attacks of asthma are currently unknown: epithelial damage, increased cytokines releasability, mouth breathing.... Influenza vaccination is recommended in patients with chronic pulmonary diseases. However, bronchial hyperreactivity has been reported after influenza vaccination in asthmatics. Reactions to these vaccines may be due to non-immunogenic impurities, which are not present in the more recently developed subunit vaccines. In spite of the lack of double-blind studies between subunit and killed influenza virus vaccines, and because of the potential bad prognosis of influenza infection on airway obstruction, influenza vaccination should be recommended in asthmatics with stable respiratory function but influenza vaccination rate remains low.

Pulmonary nocardiosis is a respiratory infection which is usually described in the immunocompromised. We report three cases in patients suffering from chronic airflow obstruction. In two cases there was a parenchymal disorder and in one case bronchial suppuration without involvement of the alveolar region. The diagnosis was made in all cases by bacteriological examination from specimens obtained at fiberoptic bronchoscopy. The outcome was favourable in all three cases after appropriate treatment. These observations underline the diversity of the clinical forms of respiratory nocardiosis. Furthermore, it demonstrates their possible occurrence in non-immunocompromised patients and the need to look for this germ specifically in long drawn infections. A bacteriological diagnosis is vital to start early and appropriate antibiotic therapy which should be prolonged because of the risk of recurrence and disseminated infection.

We report a case of thrombo-embolic disease in which we were able to detect the presence of serum antiphospholipid auto-antibodies. The existence of antiphospholipid auto-antibodies has already been described in cases of recurrent thrombo-embolism. The thrombogenic role is only partially explained, but would for the greater part be linked to an action on the fibrolytic activity of the vascular parietal wall. Amongst these antibodies one can find amongst others VDRL, antiprothrombinase and anticardiolipin. The association of other stigmata of auto immunity is not rare, especially disseminated lupus erythematosus (LED). When phospholipids are found in an isolated fashion in cases of recurrent thrombo-embolism they produce the syndrome of antiphospholipids. The long term prognosis of this syndrome has not yet been established but the risk of a secondary systemic disease developing justifies a clinical follow up and regular blood checks.

From December 1986 to January 1988, 100 General Practitioners and Pneumologists working outside hospital included in open unmatched series 275 patients who were diagnosed as having pneumonia at home. The study consisted of 53.2% men with an average age of 49.3 plus or minus 19.3. Their temperature on the first day (J1) was in 72.7% of cases greater than 38.5 degrees Centigrade. The doctors felt that the general state was good in 66.5% of the cases. Cough was present in 83.5% of cases but was dry in one out of every two. The patients received Amoxycillin in a dose of 2 grams per day orally (66.9%), or by injection (33.1%). On the third day (J3) 90% of the patients had a temperature below 38.5 degrees Centigrade. Their general state was improved in 94.6% of cases. The diagnosis of pneumonia at home was confirmed radiologically on 219 of the films available, confirming the good specificity of the clinical diagnosis of pneumonia at home. Ten patients were hospitalised. The apparent treatment of Amoxycillin was given in 247 cases (89.8% of cases). In 28 cases (10.2%) the treatment was changed by the addition or substitution of a Macrolide (15), or another antibiotic (5), and in 80 cases a change of treatment was not specified. 25 of these 28 cases were reviewed on the 14th day (J14) and no failures were observed after the change of treatment. In 247 patients in whom the treatment with Amoxycillin was followed 336 were reviewed on the 15th day and there had been four failures. Three were intolerant to the drug and there was one relapse.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

We report a study using Doppler echocardiography looking for pulmonary arterial hypertension (HTAP) in 36 patients presenting with chronic airflow obstruction (BPCO) who are in a stable state. 18 of these (group 1) had confirmed HTAP by right heart catheterisation which had been done the day before and was defined as a mean pulmonary arterial pressure (PAPm) of greater than 20 mm of mercury. The other 18 patients (group 2) did not have HTAP at rest. The systolic ejection flow and the duration of the peak (expressed in msec) was analysed at the time of each examination. The Doppler data was compared between the two groups of patients and also with the results obtained in ten healthy subjects. The Doppler examination was successfully performed in 35 patients in spite of a poor echographic window in 86% of cases. When there was HTAP, the systolic ejection flow had a triangular aspect which contrasted with the dome shaped appearance of the normals. In group 1 the peak time was significantly shortened (p less than 0.01) compared to group 2 and to the healthy subjects. On the other hand there was no linear correlation between the value of the peak time and the level of HTAP measured by the catheter. Thus the severity of HTAP could not be precisely measured using these parameters. In considering that the peak time is normally greater than 100 msec, the sensitivity and specificity of the Doppler examination for the detection of HTAP during the course of BPCO are 90 and 88% respectively, which appears to be superior to the values obtained using other non invasive methods in the diagnosis of HTAP.

This study of circulating immune complexes was carried out using a C1q radio-labelled complement fixation test in 162 patients suffering from broncho-pulmonary disease. There were a similar number of positive results in primary cancer (44%) or secondary (53%) in tuberculosis (37%) or other pathologies (64%). With primary causes neither the histological type nor the stage of extension were associated with any particular frequency of positive tests. The diagnostic interest of research into circulating immune complexes thus appears limited. This study shows however, the activation of humoral systems of immunity during the course of broncho-pulmonary diseases, and raises the prospect of qualitative studies into the nature of the antigen implicated and their role in the mechanism of defence of the organism.