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We report the case of a 60-year-old male with history of surgery for tracheal stenosis 21 years prior to the onset of difficult asthma-like symptoms. Upon exploring the tracheobronchial tree using the fiberoptic bronchoscope, a surgical gauze was found. The foreign body migrated transluminally from the mediastinum into the trachea and its removal was possible with rigid bronchoscopy leading to a rapid recovery of his symptoms. Copyright © 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel [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]